Mousetrap Vehicle C

[DarthBuilder]

Well the pencil has to be perpendicular to the floor and must be started by the pencil. So there will be an issue for that.

[PM2017]

Hi guys! Quick question (okay, maybe not so quick): how does your starting mechanism work? My mousetrap vehicle uses one mousetrap, and I use an axle hook to switch directions while winding. Since the length traveled is not known until competition, I simply turn the axle string a certain amount of times, and then hold the pole in place and release to start. However, the rules say that I need to use a pencil tip. How is everyone else dealing with this issue? Is my mousetrap vehicle design fundamentally flawed?

look at this video (I have a feeling that you have removed the trigger...)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJqnyo6_Vog. I'm not focusing on the design here, but the trigger mechanism. What they did is they set the trap, and triggered it with a pencil, the same way as a mouse would, which sets the kill bar into action. The "pole" is simply an extension of the kill bar, so as the kill bar rotates about the spring, so does the pole.

[404ic]

Hi guys! Quick question (okay, maybe not so quick): how does your starting mechanism work? My mousetrap vehicle uses one mousetrap, and I use an axle hook to switch directions while winding. Since the length traveled is not known until competition, I simply turn the axle string a certain amount of times, and then hold the pole in place and release to start. However, the rules say that I need to use a pencil tip. How is everyone else dealing with this issue? Is my mousetrap vehicle design fundamentally flawed?

look at this video (I have a feeling that you have removed the trigger...)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJqnyo6_Vog. I'm not focusing on the design here, but the trigger mechanism. What they did is they set the trap, and triggered it with a pencil, the same way as a mouse would, which sets the kill bar into action. The "pole" is simply an extension of the kill bar, so as the kill bar rotates about the spring, so does the pole.

Luckily I haven't removed the trigger. However, I don't want to push the snapper arm/pole completely down to set the mousetrap (because that's not the right length for the specified distance)! Do you have any suggestions?

[DarthBuilder]

I think I know what you are saying? So when you wind for example, 3 winds on your wind axle and you set the mousetrap, it will still go the 3 winds from your axle. Nothing would change the distance unless your car rolls. I’m not sure if this is what you were asking? Correct me if I am wrong.

[nnaya]

Thanks to all who responded to my question about axle glue...much appreciated.

For the trigger, we use the mousetrap trigger itself and let the braking system stop the vehicle at the right distance.

[glouthan]

404ic,
How much does your vehicle weigh? If it weighs enough, you may have the option to simply wind how ever many turns you need, then secure the kill bar in place but leave slack in the drive string. By doing this when you release the trigger mechanism the drive arm will swing upwards to your starting position you were originally holding the bar at to start, then start driving the car forwards. This solution may be an issue however if your car is fairly light as it will suffer some recoil from this process and mess up your initial alignment of the vehicle on the track.

[Alex-RCHS]

404ic,
How much does your vehicle weigh? If it weighs enough, you may have the option to simply wind how ever many turns you need, then secure the kill bar in place but leave slack in the drive string. By doing this when you release the trigger mechanism the drive arm will swing upwards to your starting position you were originally holding the bar at to start, then start driving the car forwards. This solution may be an issue however if your car is fairly light as it will suffer some recoil from this process and mess up your initial alignment of the vehicle on the track.

This is definitely an option. You could do something similar by simply putting X extra forward winds and X extra backward winds in the car so that it goes a greater distance past the 3m line. It will increase your time score by a little bit, but also get rid of any recoil from that first snap.

But instead, could you just put a few more winds in the backward direction? What stops the car, a wingnut?

[404ic]

404ic,
How much does your vehicle weigh? If it weighs enough, you may have the option to simply wind how ever many turns you need, then secure the kill bar in place but leave slack in the drive string. By doing this when you release the trigger mechanism the drive arm will swing upwards to your starting position you were originally holding the bar at to start, then start driving the car forwards. This solution may be an issue however if your car is fairly light as it will suffer some recoil from this process and mess up your initial alignment of the vehicle on the track.

This sounds like a very good option; I will try it out. Thanks for the tip! I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, my mousetrap gets weaker with successive tests. Does anyone have any solutions to this problem? Consistency in this event seems difficult to achieve.

[DarthBuilder]

You simply replace your mousetrap every ten runs or around that and before a competition.

[colaboy82]

404ic,
How much does your vehicle weigh? If it weighs enough, you may have the option to simply wind how ever many turns you need, then secure the kill bar in place but leave slack in the drive string. By doing this when you release the trigger mechanism the drive arm will swing upwards to your starting position you were originally holding the bar at to start, then start driving the car forwards. This solution may be an issue however if your car is fairly light as it will suffer some recoil from this process and mess up your initial alignment of the vehicle on the track.

This sounds like a very good option; I will try it out. Thanks for the tip! I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, my mousetrap gets weaker with successive tests. Does anyone have any solutions to this problem? Consistency in this event seems difficult to achieve.

What DarthBuilder said is a solution but be careful because every mousetrap performs differently and has different strengths. This difference could cause your values for your vehicle to change. So, I would be careful about changing your mousetraps.