DESIGN CHALLENGE

Carnival ride operators have asked for a better way to return the rafts from the end of the ‘River Rapids’ ride back to a holding tank. Using the pneumatic catapult, students must re-design the end effector, or ‘cradle’, to launch these rafts back into the holding tank efficiently at the end of the day. Students must draw their designs, fabricate prototypes using folded card stock, and test their designs using proper experimental procedures. At the conclusion, students present their designs at a final design review.