The Lightning Sharks

Team Information

Car Name: Blue Marshmallow Lightning
Team Name: The Lightning Sharks
School Name: NSU University School
Team Members Names: Hannah L. and Jack R.

Design Documentation

Project Log

Date	Hours	Tasks Worked	Obstacles Encountered	Modifications to Car
9/8	1	Solar car video, looked at materials, sketched my car.
9/15	1	Picked out materials and cut my base. sanded base.	Hard to cut base
9/22	1	Painted base.	Couldn’t work on car after I painted.	Color of car base
9/29	1	Cut a hole in the body of the car for the gears.
10/6	1	Hammered the wheels
10/20	1	Glued wheels on to base and put rubber bands on wheels		Wheels were glued on to base.
10/27	1	Worked on motor and circuits.
11/3	1	Worked on motor and motor gear and put it on car.		motor and circuits
11/17	1	Replaced motor	Car crashed so had to re attach motor
12/1	1	Put on binder ring		Binder ring
12/8	1	Worked on the supports for my solar panels.		panel supports
12/15	1	Was testing the car and I dropped it.	Dropped it and it broke
1/12	1	Worked on placement of motor	Motor metal tab broke so had to replace the motor	motor (again)
1/19	1	Ran the car and tested my car
1/26	1	made sure my car went straight and was ready
4/6	1	Ran my solar car
4/20	1	ran my solar car and fixed my motor that fell off	motor fell off	motor (AGAIN)
4/23	.5	Ran my car to make sure it ran OK

Design Drawings

Finished Car Specifications

Car Size with Panel	Length: 31cm	Width: 13 cm	Height:7 cm
Weight with Panel	289 g
Wheel size	Front wheels: 4 cm	Back wheels: 4 cm
Gear Ratio	motor gear: axle gear 10 : 56 = 5 : 28

Materials Used

	Approx. Cost
New:
Pitsco Ray Catcher solar panel, , small white gear	38.25
motor	5.25
wheels, tires, an axles, axel gears – Solar Made accessory bag	3.99
balsa wood	2.31
spacers for bearings (4)	0.26
battery pack with switch	3.85
piece of black binder for eyelet	0.07
alligator clips (2)	0,14

Consumables:
masking tape
hot glue
solder

Recycled:
piece of pool noodle
pipe cleaners

Test Results / Trial Runs

Test Runs 1 – date: 4/6/2022
Weather conditions: Partly cloudy
When the sun was out we ran on panel.

Observations of results: My car ran straight and fast.
Any recommendations for improvements:

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – panel	6.07	14.5	2.39
2 – panel	5.80	14.5	2.50
3 – panel	5.60	14.5	2.59

Test Runs 2 – date: 4/20/2022
Weather conditions: partly cloudy
We ran on solar panel

Observations of results: My car wheel came off.
Any recommendations for improvements:

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – panel	7.19	20	2.78
2 – panel	6.50	20	3.08

Test Runs 3 – date: 4/23/2022
Weather conditions: Cloudy
Ran on battery

Observations of results: My car ran well
Any recommendations for improvements: