Presented: October 24 th, 2009 A Look at: Mousetrap Vehicle Out and Back

On the agenda…  Keys to being successful  Discussing the rules Event description Construction The track/competition Scoring  Watch “Mousetrap Vehicle : OUT and BACK” DVD ( About 15 min long)  Questions

Event description Summarizing the Science Olympiad rules… A team of up to two will design and build a vehicle powered by one or two mousetraps to travel a distance and return to the starting line center as quickly as possible. The team will have ten minutes to attempt two runs of the vehicle.

Keys to being successful  Know and follow the rules  Strive for a dependable, repeatable vehicle. Vehicle tracks straight Reliable reverse mechanism  START EARLY! “Building it is the easy part, making it work is the hard part” Test, record, repeat.

Construction Parameters One or two unmodified mousetraps to be used. Two basic approaches 1.Two mousetraps required, one for forward, one for reverse, and a tripping mechanism 2.One or two mousetraps, string is wound two different ways around the axle i.e. 14 turns counterclockwise for reverse motion, a bit of slack, then 15 turns clockwise for forward motion

Construction Parameters

 Non electric sighting devices only A target may be placed at the 7m mark Must be removed before running  Vehicle must be trigger controlled  Additional energy sources must be at their lowest state  No part of the vehicle other than the wheels may contact the floor  Vehicle must move as an entire unit

Construction Parameters  The rules allow generous flexibility on construction  No restrictions on materials  Obviously a vehicle should be light and stiff  Decrease rotating mass where possible  Minimize friction/rolling resistance  Mouse trap cars have been a hobby ever since mouse traps were invented, lots of hobby literature available.

The track

 The center of the track will be marked with an arrow at the start line and the 7m line  The track will have “additional” space for vehicles which run outside the designated lane  Lane will be on a “relatively smooth, hard, low-friction surface” Test vehicle on a variety of surfaces Note/record changes in calibrations

The competition  Vehicle/parts must be impounded prior to event  Bring & wear goggles  Fixed point must start somewhere along the start line  Vehicle to be released by pushing the trigger with a pencil or dowel

Scoring Q: How do we place well? A: Fall into the 1 st Tier and have a low run score Tiers are used to classify vehicles by the types of violations (if any) The run score is a combination of distance score, time score, and any bonus/penalty

Scoring  Remember, low score wins  Tiers 1 st Tier: No violations & vehicle reverses 2 nd Tier: No violations, vehicle fails to reverse 3 rd Tier: Competition violations 4 th Tier: Construction violations and possibly competition violations

Scoring Refer to item 6 in the rules for all the details. Distance score: If your vehicle travels to the 7.00 meter line and reverses, the distance score is the distance (in cm) from the center of the start line to the fixed point Lane bonus: 20 pts deducted if your vehicle stays in the lane through 8.00 m Overrun penalty: Points added if your vehicle goes past the 8.00 m line