A First year University project, to design and create a boat that would carry a cup of sand across Markeaton park's Model Boat lake within 3 minutes.
There were a few constraints that needed to be followed. Firstly, batteries or pre manufactured systems were not allowed to be used. Also, health and safety, and the environmental issues need to be considered.
For this boat design, springs were used from big mouse traps for the mechanism of the paddles. The theory behind the design, is that as the spring returns back to its normal position, it pulls the fishing line which is fixed and wrapped around the axial, which drives the paddles.
For this assignment, I was the only student, who managed to get there boat moving, without relying on wind and reaching over 3/4 of the model boating lake.
After the initial test, the boat was improved by adding a shorter cup to bring the cup of sand out of the water, a higher tension bar and another set of springs to give it more power.
