We're supposed to make a mini solar car for a project in our school. Ours is about the size of the mouse attached to your computer.
Our car is pretty fast when compared to those made by other groups, but the main problem is that it keeps tilting and turning all the time so it runs out of the track almost every time. The track we're supposed to run on is 1 foot wide and about 20 feet long.
Our car originally had only 3 wheels for higher speed, 2 at the back and 1 in the front. Then we found out that it's very unstable, sometimes running towards the right and sometimes left, running out of the track all the time. So we gave it 4 wheels instead, but now its speed has significantly reduced, and it's still very unstable. Now we don't know whether giving it 4 wheels instead of 3 is a right choice or not.
Help! What should we do!? Now we have 2 goals:
1) Make it run in a straight line, at least it wouldn't run out of the track again.
2) Make it even faster.
2007-04-11 16:33:47 · 3 answers · asked by formystudies6 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
I would stick with the three wheels. Your car will be most stable with front wheel drive, as I hope you have already found out. Or perhaps a trapezoid arrangement, with two wider spaced powered front wheels and two closer spaced rear wheels. Or again, stick with the three wheel arrangement and make the rear trailing third wheel much larger than the rest. This will produce a gyroscopic stabilization when spinning, keeping the vehicle running more straight. Or maybe one large powered wheel in the front, with two trailing smaller wheels in the rear. The earliest bicycles and tricycles were built on this last design, presumably for the same reasons. I would build several arangements and see which works best, if you have the time and energy. But that is what engineering is all about.
2007-04-11 16:46:55 · answer #1 · answered by Sciencenut 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Run it with 3 wheels but have 2 in front and 1 in the rear. You'll get your speed back, and it might be more stable. You might just have to reverse the polarity on your motor.
2007-04-12 06:50:47 · answer #2 · answered by joshnya68 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Solar Power Design Manual : http://SolarPower.siopu.com/?mqP
2017-04-06 09:36:50 · answer #3 · answered by Laree 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋