Rocket car race - Science et technologie

Robin St-Pierre
Enseignant de science et technologie

Robin St-Pierre
Science and technology teacher

École secondaire des Patriotes-de-Beauharnois

École secondaire des Patriotes-de-Beauharnois

Commission scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands

Commission scolaire de la Vallée-des-Tisserands

Courriel :

Fabrication


Vehicle design is relatively simple. The frame is composed of three strips of wood connected by a nut and bolt. These are necessary because we want a partial connection and removable to allow for alignment.


Here are some vehicles during manufacturing.

	The wheels are prefabricated wood agglomerate. We preferred to buy rather than make, because the cost is low and the wheels allows us to gain valuable time
	The wheels are attached to the frame with screws and separated from the chassis by a steel washer.
	For the manufacture of aerodynamic hull, we glue stringers expanded polystyrene in the way to create an aerodynamic shape. For the edges of the wheels, we used wire to cover the places where it is difficult to use expanded polystyrene.
	To complete the hull, wrap film is fixed in the vehicle with tape.
	The heat of a hair dryer causes a narrowing of wrap film enough slack, making the hull more aerodynamic.
	To fix the rocket motor on the vehicle, you build a box with two parts, the separator let a small wondows at the end of the box. The bottom part is the housing of the rocket engine, the top part is the housing of the parachute. The space at the bottom of the box is used to evacuate gases for the ejection of the parachute.

Some examples of completed vehicles


	You here the motor is installed with the primer and the parachute is in place, it is attached to the vehicle frame by a single screw fixed to the edge of the box of the motor