The Milwee Falcons

Event Year: 2022
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 7-8 (JSS Blue)
School: Milwee Middle
Team Size: 4

Photos and Basic Information

Milwee Middle School

Name: The Milwee Falcons

Liam E. (Grade 7), Ethan A. (Grade 8), Aron I. (Grade 8), Jesus R. (Grade 7)

Design Documentation

Photos – 

Project Log – 

Date: 4/11/2022

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Design Drawings

Time spent: 30 minutes

Members Present: EA,  LE, AI, JR 

Obstacles encountered: Coming up with the theme, Whether or not our car should be front or rear wheel drive, Gear ratio for our wheels

Modifications: Making the design more aerodynamic

Date: 4/12/2022

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Design Drawings, Car build

Time spent: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Members Present: LE, AI, EA, JR

Obstacles encountered: Finding out the gear ratio, How to fit the motor and solar panel on our car

Modifications: Adding attachments to support the solar panel

Date: 4/14/2022

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Design Drawings, Car build

Time spent: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Members Present: LE, AI, EA, JR

Obstacles encountered: Finding out the gear ratio, How to fit the motor and solar panel on our car, Figuring out how to support the solar panel

Modifications: Changing the shape of the car

Date: 4/18/2022 (morning)

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Design Drawings, Car build

Time spent: 55 minutes

Members Present: EA

Obstacles encountered: Finding out how to remove the gear on the axle, how to put on the best eyelet, how to improve the shoebox idea

Modifications: Adding an eyelet, and fixing the gear ratio.

Date: 4/18/2022 (Afternoon)

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Car build

Time spent: 45 minutes

Members Present: LE, AI, EA, JR

Obstacles encountered: How to add a new gear ratio, how to put a gear onto the motor

Modifications: We fixed the gear ratio to a 50:10 then we also fixed the wheels so they are not rubbing the balsa wood.

Date: 4/19/2022 

Tasks worked on: Writeup, Car build, Website, Design Drawings, 

Time spent: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Members Present: LE, AI, EA, JR

Obstacles encountered: 

Modifications: We replaced the motor with a newer one so it would spin the wheels faster then we also fixed the box to make it more aesthetic , and we found a better way to place the solar panel.

Date: 4/20/2022 

Tasks worked on: Web Page, Car Design, shoe box

Time spent: 2 hours 30 minutes

Members Present: EA

Obstacles encountered: How to glue sticks to a box, and fixing the eyelet

Modifications: We put more sticks on the box and we added the eyelet to the box.

Date: 4/25/2022 

Tasks worked on: Web Page, Car Design, shoe box

Time spent: 45 minutes

Members Present: LE, AI, EA, JR

Obstacles encountered: Optimizing our website.

Modifications: We added more necessary adjustments to our website.

Design Drawings – 

Finished car specifications – 

Car Size: 10.625 inches (length) x 4 inches (width) x 3.12 (height)

Weight: 126 grams

Wheel Size: Diameter: 1.5 inches

Gear Ratio: 10:50

Components: Balsa wood board, cardboard, gears, axle, paperclip, wheels, rubber bands, solar panel

Test Results – 

Test One (battery power) – 

Weather: Sunny

Distance traveled: 25 ft

Time elapsed: 4. 28 seconds

Speed: 5. 84112149533 mph

Comments: We feel that the car is a little slower due to the slightly old batteries.

Ideas to improve: 

Test Two (Sun power) –

Weather: Sunny

Distance traveled: 25 ft

Time elapsed: 4.15 seconds

Speed: 6.02409638554 mph

Comments: We feel that the car has great acceleration, especially when hit with direct sunlight

Ideas to improve: We will fix how the wires touch the motor to see if it will go faster

Test Three (Sun power) – 

Weather: Sunny

Distance traveled: 25 ft

Time elapsed: 4.09 seconds

Speed: 6.11246943765

Comments: We like that the car has fast acceleration, and that the car could really pull ahead in the later stages of the race.

Ideas to improve:

Summary

Our final solar car design was the base of a mousetrap car, by that I mean the balsa wood and the axles and wheels. What makes our design different from others is our concept and build. Our concept is falcons, which is why our car has a bird face on it plus our box has branches around the edges which signify a bird nest. It also has the drawing of a falcon on the top to represent our team name. Our design is the same of an aerodynamic car with a pointy tip. Our car has worked very well with the test runs because we have the correct angle for the solar panel, which in Florida is between a 27 and 45 degree angle. Our car has preformed successfully in many test runs because of these factors.

Video–