Mousetrap Vehicle C

[marvinl718]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a store that sells carbon fiber square tubes and rods for a reasonable price and decent shipping?

[RJohnson]

I just ordered from dragonplate.com - I can't attest to quality but the prices were decent.

[rafaelnadal]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a store that sells carbon fiber square tubes and rods for a reasonable price and decent shipping?

I ordered from cstsales.com and got 2 .236" and 39" long carbon fiber square tubes and they're not bad. I haven't worked with carbon fiber before so as for quality, I'm not exactly sure what "good" vs "bad" carbon fiber is like.

EDIT: I also have a question. Im struggling to keep my mousetraps attached to my carbon fiber. Currently i have a strip of balsa attached to my cf, and the mousetraps are glued to the balsa but after 2-3 runs, the balsa/mousetrap (sometimes the balsa, sometimes only the mousetraps) come flying off. Is there a way I can more securely attach the mousetraps to my carbon fiber?. Also, is there a way to remove superglue off the cf? I'm scared to use acetone as I'll think it'll damage the fibers.

Also, I saw windu mention something about a scope to increase accuracy. How would I attach a scope to my car O.o? The only scope I know of is like a sniper scope from CoD or something. Rifle scopes seem way too big and way too heavy. Can somelink to me to scopes? Also, how do you use the scope (Do you attach it?)

[SciolyNewbieee]

Hi everyone, as you can see by my username this is the first year I'm ever doing science Olympiad. Mousetrap vehicle is kinda the event that nobody on my team wants to do and I pretty much had to "take one for the team", not that I personally had a problem with it but I'm utterly confused about this whole event. I got my kit last week and I know it comes with instructions but they seem completely foreign to me btw I'm going solo on this event, meaning I have no partner. So my question to everyone here is, where do I begin, and how should I try and do well in this event. Thanks!

[Otkrlj]

First of all what kit did you get?

[Unome]

nobody on my team wants to do and I pretty much had to "take one for the team"

This is the fun part

As previously mentioned, what kit did you get? For most events the Ward's Science kits are notoriously overpriced and uncompetitive, though I don't know about Mousetrap in particular.

Firstly, learn how a mousetrap vehicle moves:

The mousetrap is mounted on the car. Most often (but not always), a long dowel-like rod is attached to the mousetrap, so that when the mousetrap is triggered, the rod is pulled on, which is attached to a string, which is attached to the axle, which is attached to wheels. The pulling of the rod pulls the string. So, if you wind the string around the axle, when the string is pulled, it will spin the axle, turning the wheels, propelling the car.

Secondly, note that the above description applies to making the vehicle move in one direction (hopefully straight, if the vehicle itself is well-built). In order to get the vehicle to move forward and then backward, you can do a few different things. The simplest, in my opinion, is to wrap the string around the axle one way, do a half-turn around a peg on the axle (e.g. a pin or something), and then continue to wrap the string in the other direction around the axle, allowing it to change direction.

The basic stopping mechanism for any non-electric SO vehicle is to use a wingnut wrapped around a threaded rod - as shown in this image from a similar event called Scrambler (hence the egg at the front). Modifications for reversing direction will just be subtracting the 3 meters, so the wingnut should be closer to the edge to start with than if you were to just go backwards a certain distance.

I know very little about making a chassis, or good wheels and axles, or attaching a rod to a mousetrap, etc. - those are likely covered somewhere previously in this thread or in the event subforum.

[SciolyNewbieee]

I did get my kit off of the Ward's Science site, didn't know it was that bad though. Thank you for giving me the gist of the event/vehicle. What should be my first move with the kit I have?

[RJohnson]

I did get my kit off of the Ward's Science site, didn't know it was that bad though. Thank you for giving me the gist of the event/vehicle. What should be my first move with the kit I have?

Make sure the instructions meet the rules and then follow them or modify them accordingly. I had a teammate use that kit and produce an illegal vehicle... Not exactly sure how.

Read the instructions two or three times, ask questions, verify with the rules, then build.

Good luck with your vehicle!

[SciolyNewbieee]

Here comes a boatload of questions: Okay so the instruction said to cut 2x24 inch sides, but doesn't that seem too large? Would it be a problem doing 2x12 inches and if so, what's the benefit of having a longer/larger vehicle? They also mention something about a mounting point, what exactly is that?

[JasperKota]

Here comes a boatload of questions: Okay so the instruction said to cut 2x24 inch sides, but doesn't that seem too large? Would it be a problem doing 2x12 inches and if so, what's the benefit of having a longer/larger vehicle? They also mention something about a mounting point, what exactly is that?

~2 feet sounds alright to me, you need the vehicle to be long enough in order to go the 3 meters forward, and 4 meters backward. If the vehicle is too short, the lever driving the vehicle would also be too short and the vehicle won't be able to go the distance. Not sure what a mounting point would be, but I'm guessing it's where you would mount your mousetraps?