How can you build a machine or device that moves on its own?


Targets
At the end of this unit, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are simple machines, and how do they make work easier?

1.1 What advantage do I get from using a lever?

1.2 How do wheels and rollers help move things from place to place?

1.3 What role do wheel and axle systems have in moving vehicles and devices?
2. How can I build machines so they move the way I want?

2.1 How force be used to move a vehicle?

2.2 How can you build a machine or device that moves on its own?

2.3 What is needed to design a safe vehicle?

2.4 How can ideas be shared and designs be compared to build the best moving device possible?
Targets

Photograph: Courtesy of NASA

What if you had a vehicle that had a source of power that would never be used up?  That kind of vehicle is very rare.  You learned in the last section that force is required to move devices and vehicles and that force is used up eventually.

The Gossamer Penguin was powered by an electric motor that received its energy from solar panels.

If you really try hard, you might be able to build a vehicle like the Gossamer Penguin.  This very cool airplane can carry one person and is powered by the Sun!  As long as the Sun is shining, the Gossamer Penguin can collect energy with its solar panels—enough to power the electric motor that provides the force for the propeller.  It is not very fast—you can jog faster than it can fly!  However, it was the first solar-powered airplane in history that could carry a human.
If you want fast, you probably want a vehicle with the most powerful engines in the world – jet engines.  Did you know that the fastest car in the world had two jet engines?  The ThrustSSC set the world speed record for cars, going 1227 km/h, which is faster than the speed of sound!

The ThrustSSC has a big fuel tank.  It uses 18 litres of fuel every second!  (A family car might use that amount going from Calgary to Red Deer in 2 hours!)

The Gossamer Penguin may have been very slow and the ThrustSSC very fast, but they both used energy.  Because they needed energy, they had to have sources of energy on board so they could keep moving.  In this section, you will build a device or vehicle that uses stored energy to keep moving on its own.