Mousetrap Car
A toy company wants a vehicle powered by a single mousetrap — no batteries, no motor, no second push. One release of the spring, and it has to travel as far as you can make it go.
The target
One hook, one number. Everything you decide gets judged against how far the car travels on a single release of the spring.
Maximum distance on one release.
Benchmark: 30 feet.
5 × (distance traveled ÷ 30 ft)
Measured on the test track. Beating the benchmark scores above 5. Record-breaking runs need video.
What you hand in
- The car. Working, and within every constraint on the brief.
- Research. Curated sources with notes on what each one is for. See what to research.
- Sketches. Hand drawn, multiple ideas, labeled, more than one view. They must answer the six design questions.
- A formal design representation. An Onshape model, a dimensioned technical drawing, or a scaled hand sketch with real measurements. For this project: Onshape, with parts in part studios and the car assembled with correct mates, shared to the Onshape classroom.
- Build documentation. Photos of the build in progress, not just the finished car.
- Test data. At least three trials, plus your iteration log — what you changed, why, and what happened.
- Presentation. Your team presents to the client. Every student answers a question individually.
Dates
Set in assets/settings.js
Set in assets/settings.js
Set in assets/settings.js
Set in assets/settings.js
Before you build anything: read the shop procedures. Wasted material counts against you on this project — it's a line item on the client's cost sheet, and it's part of your daily grading page score too.