Egg Drop Project

Group of Jordan Page and Maddy Ross

Intro:

Mini- For this project, we had to design a vehicle to withstand drops from several heights that protected an egg using a limited amount of materials.

Big- For this project, we had to design a vehicle to withstand only two drops, but from much higher heights than the mini drop that still protected the egg, but we got to use any resource, just with a few restrictions.

Technical Concepts:

In these two projects, a lot of concepts dealt with physics such as a crumple zone to protect the egg better, and force, momentum, and velocity which we calculated using the data retrieved from the drops.

Learning Goals:

Both projects helped to learn more about working together in groups and communicating with people, learn the design process, and problem solve. All these were executed very well which lead to a mostly successful group and project.

Design Brief:

Mini- We decided that a major feature we wanted to incorporate into our design was a crumple zone. We got this idea from watching the crash text video on cars. Our crumple zone consisted mainly of an index card whose ends were glued to the sides of a piece of foam which made it look like the letter U. We also incorporated a parachute into the design and thought that the bigger it was, the better it would work. Because of this, we decided to use both pieces of paper provided to make a parachute with a large surface area. All the other materials were used to attach the parachute, a little bit of cushion and add to the crumple zone, and also last minute additions to add protection around the egg if it fell sideways. 

Big- For our design, we wanted to be creative and find a way to suspend the egg so it could never touch anything and break. To do this, we decided to use a tissue box as the main structure because it was light, met the height requirements, and was also pretty durable and hard on the outside. We stuffed the egg inside a nylon and strung the nylon across the opening of the tissue pox to add the component of suspension. Just incase the nylon didn't hold very well, we stuffed a lot of cushion into the box such as bubble wrap, tissues, and cotton. We hoped that by using all light materials, the box wouldn't fall very quickly and therefore have a lesser impact force which would help the egg not break. Also, we planed on putting a washer to the bottom of the box so it would fall the way we wanted, but we couldn't find one so we added cardboard handles around the egg so that if it fell on its side, the egg wouldn't hit the ground, the handles would.

Positive Feedback:

Mini- The part of our design that we liked the best was our parachute. Our parachute was a combination of two, basic, white pieces of paper taped together on the short side which made it as long as possible. This design made it have a lot of surface area, which increased the air resistance and made it fall down slower.

Big- The part of the design that we liked the best and which seemed to work well was how we suspended the egg. By doing this, the egg could never hit anything, therefore it couldn't break as easily.

 

Redesign:

Mini- The actual support that the egg was in was not built very good. Next time, we need to add more protection around the egg because it always fell on it's side due to the crumple zone which didn't seem to help at all.

Big- Overall, our design was very good, except for the fact that on the last fall, it flipped sideways in the air. Since we planed on it falling straight down, we didn't have good protection incase it did fall sideways or upside down. We should've but a washer or something at the bottom of it to insure that it would fall upright or add a sturdier case around the egg.

 

Technological Resources:

Mini- For this project, resources available to us were people, a partner to work with, time, had to be completed and ready to drop on a specific day, and materials. However, the materials we could use were very limited. They consisted of a foam square, a piece of rope that was a certain length, tape that was a certain length, an index card, two straws, two pieces of paper, four paperclips, and four popsicle sticks.

Big- This project was almost the same as the mini drop with having a partner and having a deadline, but there was a big difference in materials. For the big drop, we could use any materials we wanted, but there were some restrictions. These restrictions included a weight restriction, height restriction, no parachutes could be used, and we could not use peanut butter.

 

Biggest Challenge:

Mini- Our biggest challenge we had to face was that when held in the air, our contraption was always crooked and was almost completely on its side. This was not good because it was not meant to fall on it's side. It had no protection on the side which was actually what made it crack.

Big- For this project, our biggest challenge was trying to add more cushion around the egg. We had a ton of cushion below the egg, but none on the top or side of it so we wanted to add some there. The way it was build though and with the deadline soon, it was very hard to add the cushion and we didn't know how to do it or what materials we needed for it.

 

What I Learned:

Although I have done this project before, I still learned a few things. First of all, I learned how to work with a partner and that we need to combine our ideas to be successful. Secondly, and probably the most important, I learned how to problem solve and use the design process. When I did this project before, we used completely different materials so for this project, I had the problem solve and think of the best way to complete the objective. Lastly, I learned a lot about crashes and safety, forces, acceleration, and velocity which I already knew because I had physics this year, but I got to see them all in action and apply them to the real world.

 

The following pictures is the design we used for the big egg drop: