A Race to Recycle: CVHS Engineering create toy cars

For as long as anyone can remember competition has been an integral part of entertainment. When someone thinks of a great achievement for sport or for fun they think of the thrill of victory contrasting with the dread of defeat. But what activities in school can relate to these feelings of competition? The best answer is the engineering class. Right now, engineering students get to design a car out of parts from their homes and parts supplied in class. The goal is to make the car that can travel the furthest distance over a flat surface. The only parameter is that it needs wheels. Aside from that, everything is up to the person designing it. That’s why it’s so different from other projects: It’s a car made and designed by its student creator and they are put in charge of all of it.

This task was introduced as the first project after winter break. Students first used their prior knowledge in isometric drawing and engineering design methods to handpick the materials and the overall design of the car. The students chose materials for the body like popsicle sticks, straws, cardboard or water bottles. The wheels are typically made from bottle caps, CDs or cutout wood.

They also turned their cars into a 3D model after the competition to demonstrate a larger understanding of the software Autodesk Inventor. As someone progresses further into engineering they can use software like this to 3D print their designs and use them as parts in the real world, and even get certified in the software to get jobs in the future as a modeler. 

Some design choices are more prevalent than others mainly in propulsion, the biggest two propulsion methods being rubber band wheels using a similar mechanism to a pullback toy car and the balloon method when you simply put a balloon on the back. The dominant strategies become clearer as the competition progresses. 

“I appreciated the independence that I got in the recycle racer,” said engineering student Vincent Cavalieri. 

As with every project some will try harder than others but with ones like this the normal roles may be reversed. The kid who never said anything and kept their head down all year may be the one who loves it the most, does tests and revises their design until they win and that’s the difference between this and other school projects: you are the lead and you control every aspect of a car that is distinctly yours, as opposed to being led on a path to finish.