Engineering Notebook
Engineering Notebook by Austin J.
This motorboat physics experiment started with a blueprint and model of the boat to help guide the creation of the real boat. It started with a prototype boat made of cardboard.
This is a photo of our first day designing our motor boat. We started on April 26. Our teacher helped us start the design and make a prototype. We came up with the precise measurements necessary for our model. The measurements for the prototype were, floor length 15 inches, floor width 8 inches, wall length 15 inches, wall height 1.5 inches, Back wall length 6.5 inches, Back wall height 1.5 inches.
These are photos of Benjamin on May 1st, coding our remote control for the motor boat. The technology will go on the boat and let us tell the boat where to go when we aren't in the pool. He is using a program called microbit, https://microbit.org/.
Jacob and Sully finished the prototype on May 4. You can see the cardboard model in the picture below. They also started making the final boat keeping the prototype in mind. Benjamin, in the same class continued to perfect to motor and tested it using the prototype boat. Next class, we will continue to work on the final boat and finsih the motor, while also 3d printing turbines.
On Tuesday, Jacob and Sully continued working on the boat, while Benji finished the microbit and we tested ways to safely put it in the boat.
On Thursday and Friday, May 11 and 12, our group did a lot of work. Benji made a remote control for the microbit and improved the code. We also made a box for the microbit and the motors inside. The microbit and propelers and now working. Sully tested the boat at home and it succesfully floated. Jacob continued to patch up the boat's structure with tape. While he did that, Sully and Benji improved the code so the controls would be easier to use. We are soon testing the boat outside of school in a pool.
On May 17, Benji continued to troubleshoot the code In pirl with the helped on Ms. Friedman. We spent the class mostly working on the website and analytic essay. Below are photos of the code that has made the microbit work successfully. Jacob and Sully also finished the boat and we will test It In the pool soon.
On May 19, Jacob and Sully needed to fix a leak before testing the boat. When unable to use the pool, we decided to use the boat in a bucket of water to see how it would react. The boat was able to perform well and there were no changes necessary. During the testing, Benji fixed the microbit for the next class. The photos below show the current iteration of the boat and the microbit inside the black we made to hold it.
On May 23, we tested the boat In the pool, but need to make changes when the boat would only go In short circles. It also got flooded Inside and we 3d printed motors and propellers that should work better when we test again. The next day we painted the poster and printed out photos and writing to tape on after It dries. Benji and I made finishing touches on the website so we can test the boat on May 25. Below Is a photo of Jacob attaching the new motors.
We also constructed an error analysis after our failed attempt. This Is It below.
Error Analysis
After testing the motorboat, our group realized that the motors and propellers were not strong enough to propel the boat in the desired direction. The original motor design was shaped like a wheel, whereas our improved design is shaped like a turbine to allow the boat to navigate more easily and perform better in the pool with the different obstacles. The new and iterated will give us better results and prove our hypothesis.
On May 26, we 3d printed a holder for the microbit and motors. After troubleshooting the improvements we finally tested the boat in the school pool. Here is a photo of Austin, Jacob, and Sully holding our boat and remote controller.
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