The NSU Three Amigos
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: NSU University School
Team Name: The 3 Amigos
Project Name: The 3 Amigos Speedy
Team Size: 3
Team Information
A picture of our car, Speedy
| Car Name: Speedy |
| Team Name: NSU Three Amigos |
| School Name: NSU University School |
| Team Members Names: Jack T, Max S, and Joseph S |
Design Documentation
Project Log
| Date | Hours | Tasks / Work Done | Obstacles Encountered | Modifications to Car |
| 8/23/2023 | 1 | We drew a design of the car on a piece of paper. Then we made a ping pong ball holder by using a water bottle cap, rubber band, and a plastic cup. | ||
| 8/30/2023 | 1 | We made a base from balsa wood and put together front wheels by using a metal axle, plastic straws and wheels. | ||
| 9/6/2023 | 1 | We made the back wheels by using a metal axel, plastic straws, a large white gear, and wheels. | ||
| 9/13/2023 | 1 | We cut out a place for the gear to go through the car body. We glued the front and back wheels and axels to the car body. | The back and front wheels and axels are on the car body | |
| 9/20/2024 | 1 | We added a Solar Made Motor (3V). We added this motor by using hot glue and attaching the motor to the base. | We took off the motor in the end because the axel wasn’t lined up. | |
| 9/27/2023 | 1 | Today we added the motor back then we added the back wheels and lined up the back wheel gear to the motor. | Wheels and motor | |
| 10/18/2023 | 1 | We attached a Solar Made Solar Panel (3V) onto the platform using Velcro and a bendy copper wire to secure the panel. Then we ran the car. | The car is slow | Added the solar panel and Readjusted the ball holder |
| 10/25/2023 | 1 | We ran the car unfortunately the run was still slow. | The car is still slow | No adjustments made |
| 11/15/2023 | 1 | We tested the car | Still running slow | No adjustments made |
| 11/29/2023 | 1 | We ran the car but the motor was not in contact with the gear so we fixed it. | The motor was not touching the gear but we fixed it | Readjusted the gear |
| 12/13//2023 | 1 | The car was not running straight so we adjusted the axel to keep it from turning right. | Keeps turning right have not figured out how to solve this issue. | axel |
| 2/2/2024 | 1 | We worked on our turning issue. We also decided to try to change it to make it go faster. We decided to change the gear ratio and make the gear on the axel medium sized instead of large sized. | Getting it to go straight has been difficult. Changing the gear ratio means melting off the old axle and adding a new axel. | |
| 2/8/2024 | 1 | Today we decided to change the gear ratio. We worked to remove the original gear from the axel and replace it with a smaller gear to change the gear ratio. | Did not finish replacing the gear. | Removed back axel |
| 3/6/2024 | 1 | Continuing to work on the replacement of the gear on the axel | Did not finish the fixing the gear | continued modifications to gear on the back axel |
| 3/11/2024 | 0.5 | Removed the motor to help attach new gear | Did not finish replacing the gear. | Remove motor |
| 3/12/2024 | 2 | Finish the gear changes, reattached the motor and ran the car | Tested and Unfortunately the new gear ratio did not really change anything | finished reassembling the car with new gear and tested |
| 3/15/2024 | 1 | We ran car but the glue fell off on the straw holding the axel we fixed it by reattaching the glue. | Glue fell off so the axle came loose. | Fixed the glue so axle is back on |
| 3/16/2024 | 1 | Ran the car but it was slow. | Car was turning left. Car was running slow. | Changed batteries and adjusted the axel. |
| 3/17/2024 | 1 | Ran the car. Car ran straight. We need to increase the speed. We are thinking of trying out different angles with the solar panel. | Need to increase speed | |
| 3/20/2024 | 1 | Worked on the journal | Need to finish website | |
| 3/21/2024 | 1 | Worked on journal and wrote video script. Created the solar car diagrams. | Need to finish website | |
| 3/22/2024 | 1 | Worked on journal entry and filmed video with group members. Created the electrical schematic drawings. | Will work on editing | |
| 4/3/2024 | 1.5 | Added a place to put the race number. Put adult hot glue where kid glue is so that it will not melt in the sun on race day. | Added wood pieces for race number. |
Design Documentation
Design Drawings
Design Drawing: Top View (with out panel)
Design Drawing: Side View
Final Car Specifications
| Car Size with Panel | Length: 30 cm | Width: 10 cm | Height: 12 cm |
| Weight with Panel | 285.2 g | ||
| Wheel Size | Front: 3 1/2 cm | Back: 3 1/2 cm | |
| Gear Ratio | motor gear: axel gear 12:45 = 4:15 |
Materials Used
| Item | Approx. Cost |
| New: | |
| electric wire | 0.10 |
| Solar Made Solar Panel (3V) | 28.00 |
| Small white gears, wheels, and axels | 3.99 |
| Solar Made Motor (3V) | 5.25 |
| Balsa Wood | 4.00 |
| Straw pieces for spacers | 0.25 |
| Battery pack with switch | 1.25 |
| Copper colored aluminum easily bendable wire | 1.00 |
| Piece of black binder comb to hold guide wire | 0.07 |
| Alligator clips (2) | 0.28 |
| Consumables: | |
| solder | |
| velcro | |
| hot glue | |
| Recycled materials: | |
| Bottle cap | |
| Rubber band | |
| plastic cup that holds the ping-pong ball | |
| Total Cost: 43.19 |
Test Results / Trial Runs
Test Runs 1 – date: 3/12/24
Weather conditions: cloudy
Ran on panel or battery? battery
Observations of results: veered or straight, etc: It went straight
Any recommendations for improvements: the car did this and we think this. For in Improvement we should make the track longer to see how to improve the car
| Attempt | Time, S (seconds) | Distance, M (meters) | Speed, M/S |
| 1 | 5.78 | 8.62 | 1.49 |
| 2 | 5.25 | 8.62 | 1.64 |
| 3 | 5.62 | 8.62 | 1.53 |
Test Runs 2 – date: 3/12/24
Weather conditions: very cloudy
Ran on panel or battery? battery
Observations of results: veered or straight, etc: It was very slow because of the bumpy surface
Any recommendations for improvements: the car did this and we think this.
| Attempt | Time, S (seconds) | Distance, M (meters) | Speed, M/S |
| 1 | 10.31 | 17 | 1.65 |
| 2 | 13.15 | 17 | 1.29 |
Test Runs 3 – date: 3/16/24
Weather conditions: sunny
Ran on panel or battery? Battery
Observations of results: Unfortunately the car was turning left and we think the car had bad batteries.
Any recommendations for improvements: Adjusted the axel and changed batteries
| Attempt | Time, S (seconds) | Distance, M (meters) | Speed, M/S |
| 1 | 16.97 | 20 | 1.18 |
| 2 | 15.10 | 20 | 1.32 |
Test Runs 4 – date: 3/16/24
Weather conditions: sunny
Ran on panel or battery? Panel
Observations of results: Unfortunately the car was turning left.
Any recommendations for improvements: We have to adjusted the axel.
| Attempt | Time, S (seconds) | Distance, M (meters) | Speed, M/S |
| 1 | 9.41 | 20 | 2.13 |
| 2 | 10.10 | 20 | 1.98 |
| 3 | 9.56 | 20 | 2.09 |
Test Runs 5 – date: 3/17/24
Weather conditions: Sunny with intermittent clouds
Ran on panel or battery? Panel
Observations of results: We saw nothing different from a normal run. Car ran straight.
Any recommendations for improvements: Normal run but need to increase speed.
| Attempt | Time, S (seconds) | Distance, M (meters) | Speed, M/S |
| 1 | 10.91 | 20 | 1.83 |
| 2 | 10.78 | 20 | 1.86 |
| 3 |
Video of Our Car Running
Car Features Video
Additional Information
Electrical Schematic: This is our schematic of the electrical circuits. It is the same Solar Made Motor motor in both drawings.
Nice, complete web site and cool panel mount!