The Hybrid Car Project
-What is the Project about?
For this project, I was assigned with my group members (Andrew and Amritha) to work together to make a car that is energy efficient. The car must then travel 5 meters while holding weight of 250 grams without being manually controlled. We were not aloud to use gas powered motors and had to come up with a unique idea. Below you can a picture of our car.
For this project, I was assigned with my group members (Andrew and Amritha) to work together to make a car that is energy efficient. The car must then travel 5 meters while holding weight of 250 grams without being manually controlled. We were not aloud to use gas powered motors and had to come up with a unique idea. Below you can a picture of our car.
-Design:
Amritha, Andrew, and I, after much thought, wanted to run our hybrid car on solar power. Not realizing that we could have shown the car traveling 5 meters outside, we decided to add batteries for it's main source of energy, thinking we could only present it inside the classroom. The batteries and the solar panel sends energy through the red and blue wire (positive and negative energy) connected to the motor of the hybrid car to turn on. The motor has a rubber band attached to it that connects to the cars back wheel, meaning when the motor turns on, the rubber band will turn, causing the back wheel to turn with it. This allows our hybrid car to move forward. This only occurs while the red and blue wires are connected from the batteries and the solar panel to the motor itself.
Amritha, Andrew, and I, after much thought, wanted to run our hybrid car on solar power. Not realizing that we could have shown the car traveling 5 meters outside, we decided to add batteries for it's main source of energy, thinking we could only present it inside the classroom. The batteries and the solar panel sends energy through the red and blue wire (positive and negative energy) connected to the motor of the hybrid car to turn on. The motor has a rubber band attached to it that connects to the cars back wheel, meaning when the motor turns on, the rubber band will turn, causing the back wheel to turn with it. This allows our hybrid car to move forward. This only occurs while the red and blue wires are connected from the batteries and the solar panel to the motor itself.
-Concepts:
*Potential Energy: Energy that is stored, such as batteries
*Kinetic Energy: Energy that is created through motion, such as electricity
*Thermal Energy: Energy created through heat, such as a match
*Friction: The resistance between two objects when colliding, such as a bike riding down a dirt road
*Acceleration: The increase in rate or speed of something, such as a car moving forward
-Reflection:
During the making of this project, my group and I had some serious problems with the hybrid car we made. The consistency of our hybrid car was lacking. We never knew whether the car was going to run smoothly or not move at all. This taught me on how simplicity is the way to go. The reason why other groups were more successful with consistency was because of how much simpler their hybrid cars were compared to our complex one, teaching me that I should look at a more simpler approaches to projects similar to this one.
I also want to get better at being involved with my group. I have a hard time working with my group and helping them get things done faster from lack of attention. It makes me feel really bad about myself, like I didn't do anything at all. My group still supported me when I helped and that made me feel more important and actually involved. I learned from this that I should become more involved, even if the going gets tough. I promise that.
Although lots of unfortunate things happened along the way of completing our hybrid car, we got it done together. I had fun when I worked with my group and when they listened or asked for ideas of my own. Over all, I still need improvement, but I still had a good time working on it :)
*Potential Energy: Energy that is stored, such as batteries
*Kinetic Energy: Energy that is created through motion, such as electricity
*Thermal Energy: Energy created through heat, such as a match
*Friction: The resistance between two objects when colliding, such as a bike riding down a dirt road
*Acceleration: The increase in rate or speed of something, such as a car moving forward
-Reflection:
During the making of this project, my group and I had some serious problems with the hybrid car we made. The consistency of our hybrid car was lacking. We never knew whether the car was going to run smoothly or not move at all. This taught me on how simplicity is the way to go. The reason why other groups were more successful with consistency was because of how much simpler their hybrid cars were compared to our complex one, teaching me that I should look at a more simpler approaches to projects similar to this one.
I also want to get better at being involved with my group. I have a hard time working with my group and helping them get things done faster from lack of attention. It makes me feel really bad about myself, like I didn't do anything at all. My group still supported me when I helped and that made me feel more important and actually involved. I learned from this that I should become more involved, even if the going gets tough. I promise that.
Although lots of unfortunate things happened along the way of completing our hybrid car, we got it done together. I had fun when I worked with my group and when they listened or asked for ideas of my own. Over all, I still need improvement, but I still had a good time working on it :)