rocklandxjer
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Rockland, NY
hey guys, well to finish the year of AP physics [and my high-school carreer] we had a cardboard boat race.
details:
teams of 4
2 weeks of work
timed 10 minute race, team to complete the most laps [down and back] wins.
teams must also compete in style, design, calculations [yeap, we had to do them beforehand], and crowd favorite
materials
CORREGATED CARDBOARD ONLY [thickness and # of layers doesnt matter, just no solid cardboard]
duct tape
my team consisted of me, my future roommate [Rensselaer Polytech.] and two of our buddies [who helped to do some of the minion work]
design took about a day, maybe two [with the calculations]
took about a week for us to build it, then later experimented with cup holders, and other commodities. we spent the last week breaking the other teams' balls and just being complete asses [though we did help several of the groups who found themselves lost]
our paddles were made of cardboard as well, and we focused the brunt of our time on them, as a good paddle is pivotal to success [while maintaining energy]
our hull design was simple really [but complex for a cardboard boat i guess] a simple v that ran the extent of the base [made of the toughest board we could find] with a steeper V within that to add rigitity to the top, and focus all the forces to the spine of the base. we capped that and simply built around it. boxed in some sections and added bracing and such to several others.
we duct taped all around, making sure it was water-tight. this took about 9 rolls of standard duct tape [and about 30 bucks as well lol]
anyway, we started the race without a hitch [though we werent the fastest, we were the most stable]. while the others' crumbled we stayed afloat, and quite well i might add. the base remained stiff and we took on NO water. we could have easily stayed afloat for hours. We won, and were subsequently tipped over by the others in our class.
Also, within the last two minutes, we added a canopy to it [that we had built during our time of freedom after we finished the boat]. from the viewers section you could not see us putting it on [as it was underneath the balcony] so after we slipped it into the slots we made for it, and pulled out again, the crowd went nuts [mostly in laughter lol]
the crowed was filled with my friends who had heard about our boat and wanted to see it, so we won the crowd favorite award as well as all the others. [those in the audience who were not my friends even voted for us because -well, youll see ha ha]
it was probably the coolest thing i've done in school, well ever. it was great fun, and i cant wait to do it again in college sometime.
here are some pics, im loading the vid onto google video now, so ill add the link later, just in case anyone gets bored and wishes to watch it
and this one is just cool looking
just figured id share. enjoy
Travis
details:
teams of 4
2 weeks of work
timed 10 minute race, team to complete the most laps [down and back] wins.
teams must also compete in style, design, calculations [yeap, we had to do them beforehand], and crowd favorite
materials
CORREGATED CARDBOARD ONLY [thickness and # of layers doesnt matter, just no solid cardboard]
duct tape
my team consisted of me, my future roommate [Rensselaer Polytech.] and two of our buddies [who helped to do some of the minion work]
design took about a day, maybe two [with the calculations]
took about a week for us to build it, then later experimented with cup holders, and other commodities. we spent the last week breaking the other teams' balls and just being complete asses [though we did help several of the groups who found themselves lost]
our paddles were made of cardboard as well, and we focused the brunt of our time on them, as a good paddle is pivotal to success [while maintaining energy]
our hull design was simple really [but complex for a cardboard boat i guess] a simple v that ran the extent of the base [made of the toughest board we could find] with a steeper V within that to add rigitity to the top, and focus all the forces to the spine of the base. we capped that and simply built around it. boxed in some sections and added bracing and such to several others.
we duct taped all around, making sure it was water-tight. this took about 9 rolls of standard duct tape [and about 30 bucks as well lol]
anyway, we started the race without a hitch [though we werent the fastest, we were the most stable]. while the others' crumbled we stayed afloat, and quite well i might add. the base remained stiff and we took on NO water. we could have easily stayed afloat for hours. We won, and were subsequently tipped over by the others in our class.
Also, within the last two minutes, we added a canopy to it [that we had built during our time of freedom after we finished the boat]. from the viewers section you could not see us putting it on [as it was underneath the balcony] so after we slipped it into the slots we made for it, and pulled out again, the crowd went nuts [mostly in laughter lol]
the crowed was filled with my friends who had heard about our boat and wanted to see it, so we won the crowd favorite award as well as all the others. [those in the audience who were not my friends even voted for us because -well, youll see ha ha]
it was probably the coolest thing i've done in school, well ever. it was great fun, and i cant wait to do it again in college sometime.
here are some pics, im loading the vid onto google video now, so ill add the link later, just in case anyone gets bored and wishes to watch it
and this one is just cool looking
just figured id share. enjoy
Travis
Hoping to finally put my education to use shortly.
assgas: 
