Lego Sun Racers

Event Year: 2023
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: Osceola Science Charter School
Team Size: 5

By Garrett, J’Andre, Ryan, Major, and Nathaniel. Grade 4. School: Osceola Science Charter School.

We decided to start with the Engineering design process. Some of the questions we asked ourselves are things like “How do we even make a car like this?”, or “How do we prevent the motor from dragging?” We answered these questions by getting help from other sources like adults and computer sites.

Some of the problems we encountered are things like the motor dragging on the floor. We added bigger wheels to prevent this. Fun fact!: the wheels that we used originally that made the motor drag are now the rims of our current wheels. Because the wheels are so big, the car goes much faster. We decided the theme would be Lego’s because they are easy to use and build. We were inspired to use them looking at other cars and saw some hints about decoration.

We got the wooden piece and small wheels from someone to start us out. Then we added Lego’s, bigger wheels, extra decorations, and new batteries. The new batteries started steaming, so we had to remove them and switch back to the originals. Another problem we encountered was the gear moving to a side and not moving. We solved this problem by moving the motor closer to the center. This fixed our problem.

(sorry for the large size. we could not edit it)

Materials

-Lego’s

-Hot glue

-Big wheels

-motor

-velcro

-plastic

-wires

-batteries and case

-solar panel

-metal

-a gear

In the picture above, there are two loops on the bottom of the car. There will be a long wire on the track of the competition. The two loops will go around the wire to prevent the vehicle from turning and messing with other cars. Something we could improve would be the motor being right behind the two loops so it might not go in place.

Finally, we added the solar panel. It kept falling off, so we added velcro to keep it on the vehicle. We tested it, and the solar energy makes it go at the same speed as battery energy. We would only be allowed to use the batteries if it were too cloudy or rainy to race, or if it just wasn’t sunny enough.

That about sums it up! We hope you enjoyed this and found it entertaining, and we hope you have a good day! Bye!!!

(Not actual information. Only read if you want a bit of a backstory for the characters(Lego pieces))

One day, in the Lego city, the citizens were peacefully enjoying their evening. Suddenly, a big U.F.O descended from the sky and invaded the town, taking people up in their U.F.Os, but 6 individuals escaped in a secret car, running on solar energy. These individuals were Superman, to protect everybody, the mayor and his bunny assistant, to keep things in order, a mother and her husband, the builder to make things on the car livable, and their kid. They eventually found a new city to live in and had a happily ever after.

I would like to thank Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) for sponsoring the teams from our school.

THE END