Cardboard Boat Competition
Objective:
Create and Design a boat made completely of cardboard and non-structural enhancing adhesives that can travel 200 meters without sinking Criteria and Constraints: - Seams must be less than three inches - Non-Structural enhancing materials only - Glue cannot be used to increase integrity - Must hold 1+ group members - Paddles must also be made of cardboard - No other propulsion devices allowed unless made of cardboard |
Solution:
When we were first discussing this project, we wanted to create something that would be agile as well as structurally sound. We created a hull design that we believed would cut through water like a canoe, as well as be balanced enough to not flip in the water. We focused on water displacement to make sure that the volume of our boat could hold the weight we would put into it. After initial design, our hull was much harder to create than we thought. We had to cut and fold in many different places to allow it to work. After we had finished our initial design, we realized that we made our design a bit narrower than we thought, so we added an outrigger to help it maintain stability and not flip us into the water. We added coats of flex seal and paint to help assure that our boat would not let in water.
When we were first discussing this project, we wanted to create something that would be agile as well as structurally sound. We created a hull design that we believed would cut through water like a canoe, as well as be balanced enough to not flip in the water. We focused on water displacement to make sure that the volume of our boat could hold the weight we would put into it. After initial design, our hull was much harder to create than we thought. We had to cut and fold in many different places to allow it to work. After we had finished our initial design, we realized that we made our design a bit narrower than we thought, so we added an outrigger to help it maintain stability and not flip us into the water. We added coats of flex seal and paint to help assure that our boat would not let in water.
Testing and Results
Our testing began as we arrived at the lagoon. We had the first time to test so we wanted to send a message that the PV teams would dominate the competition. As both of my team members had more kayaking experience, they decided to be the pilots of the boat. As we put the boat in the water, we were worried if we had sealed everything perfectly and hopefully didn't have any leaks. As they rowed the boat around the lagoon, they seemed to be out of sync and almost zigzagging because of their miscommunication of steering. Our time ended up being 4 minutes and 22 seconds, and one of the small amount of boats that didn't sink. We ended the competition in 6th place, behind 4 PV teams and 1 Bett team. Overall we were happy with our results and if we did the project again we would hopefully compete better.
Our testing began as we arrived at the lagoon. We had the first time to test so we wanted to send a message that the PV teams would dominate the competition. As both of my team members had more kayaking experience, they decided to be the pilots of the boat. As we put the boat in the water, we were worried if we had sealed everything perfectly and hopefully didn't have any leaks. As they rowed the boat around the lagoon, they seemed to be out of sync and almost zigzagging because of their miscommunication of steering. Our time ended up being 4 minutes and 22 seconds, and one of the small amount of boats that didn't sink. We ended the competition in 6th place, behind 4 PV teams and 1 Bett team. Overall we were happy with our results and if we did the project again we would hopefully compete better.