1. Describe how you contributed to your team, what did you do, were there any major contributions you are especially proud of?
I was the manager in the team this time but still, out team kept working together to build the machine. I am quite good at understand others’ idea and explain them to others, also giving my idea to improve the machine. Our machine can shoot really far when you find the right angle and it is really stable.
2. Did your team apply the EDP successfully? (i.e. did you identify the problem & constraints, brainstorm solutions, test and prototype a solution, refine the design).
Yes, we did.
By applying the EDP, we decided to add one more stick just at the front of the horizontal frame so the shooter won’t go too far and straight to the ground. We found its problem after testing the prototype. But still we did not do enough tests on the machine to find the right shooting angle. Hope we can do the bigger one better.
3. What changes did your team make to your design?
We added stick on the front of the horizontal frame to prevent it shooting onto the ground directly. Also we kept changing the shooting angle to find the good enough one to shoot far.
4. What worked well in your design? Identify what did not work so good.
Our design is very stable. It was still in shape after shooting many times. But the angle of shooting is quite hard to control. When the angle is not right, the machine cannot fire the bullet far enough. We thought, it might be a good idea to add a stopper to it, so the force of hit can make it fire further.
5. Describe any energy conversions/forces/motions/Newton’s laws that apply to a catapult mechanism.
The main energy we used in the design, are the elastic potential energy and the kinetic energy. During the firing process the elastic potential energy conversed into kinetic energy. And because of the Newton’s first law, the bullet kept flying forward in the air, until the gravity attract it to the ground and hit the target.
Yes, we did.
By applying the EDP, we decided to add one more stick just at the front of the horizontal frame so the shooter won’t go too far and straight to the ground. We found its problem after testing the prototype. But still we did not do enough tests on the machine to find the right shooting angle. Hope we can do the bigger one better.
3. What changes did your team make to your design?
We added stick on the front of the horizontal frame to prevent it shooting onto the ground directly. Also we kept changing the shooting angle to find the good enough one to shoot far.
4. What worked well in your design? Identify what did not work so good.
Our design is very stable. It was still in shape after shooting many times. But the angle of shooting is quite hard to control. When the angle is not right, the machine cannot fire the bullet far enough. We thought, it might be a good idea to add a stopper to it, so the force of hit can make it fire further.
5. Describe any energy conversions/forces/motions/Newton’s laws that apply to a catapult mechanism.
The main energy we used in the design, are the elastic potential energy and the kinetic energy. During the firing process the elastic potential energy conversed into kinetic energy. And because of the Newton’s first law, the bullet kept flying forward in the air, until the gravity attract it to the ground and hit the target.