Mousetrap vehicle must push a 3-oz paper cup past 8.00 meters from the starting point
Vehicle must also go to an endpoint behind the starting position after delivering the cup in the ranges of 1.00 to 2.00 meters for Regional, 2.00 to 4.00 meters for State, and 4.00 to 6.00 meters for National competitions in intervals of .1 meters in each of the ranges, i.e. 1.2 meters, 4.3 meters, and 5.7 meters
Vehicle endpoint is offset to the right from the central line by .1 meters for Regional, .25 meters for State, and .5 meters for National level competitions
The vehicle with the lowest time, vehicle that pushes the cup past or closest to 8.00 meters in front of the starting position, and vehicle that stops closest to the endpoint behind the starting position wins
Full view
Front view
Top view, arm can be seen next to wheel in the top left
Top view with caliper connected to arm
Side view
Third generation Mousetrap Vehicle
Designed entire vehicle in Autodesk Inventor
Fully 3D printed body to streamline assembly process, reducing construction time by 70%
Entire vehicle design optimized to maximize distance traveled, reduce mass, and hold on to the cup
Features small adjustable arm that attached to a caliper, allowing for specific turn angles to be selected
Custom wheels designed and printed to decrease mass and travel the maximum required distance
Drives in an arc so that it lands directly on the endpoint
Third generation braking mechanism
Braking piece can be adjusted for different distances by using the screw to tighten it to a certain position
Vehicle can travel longer distances before braking because of the new sloped brake design
When moving from right to left, the wingnut is allowed to pass over the brake piece because of the slope, allowing for vehicle to travel farther since the full length of the threaded rod is being used
When moving from left to right, the wingnut is stopped by the flat side of the brake piece, stopping the vehicle