Mouse trap powered car experimenter

This project is designed to enable students to easily modify components of a mousetrap-powered car in order to analyse the impact on its performance. The wheel hubs with a screw on nut allow CD's to be used, as well as 3d printed wheels of different diameters. The chassis is made from 58mm wide plywood in lengths of 200mm and 300mm. The axles are made from 6mm dowel or bamboo skewers with a simple blob of hot glue to attach the strong cotton or string. Two bamboo skewers are used for the lever arm and are attached to the mousetrap via a bracket held onto the mousetrap arm by small cable ties. The moustrap is held in place with 2 (or 4) simple clips to facilitate easy relocation. The axle brackets are usually a press-fit onto the plywood chassis, but masking tape can be wrapped around the chassis to make it thicker. One version of the front bracket has a small cam to allow adjustments to steering. Also included is a hub puller to help students pull hubs off dowel axles and spanners to tighten and loosen the hub nut. There are many examples of simple machines embedded into the project to allow the teacher to discuss basic engineering concepts. Students are expected to design their own mousetrap-powered car following experimentation, including producing a new chassis.