A professional racecar builder challenges the teams to convert kiddie toys into motorized dragsters. Here's the inside track on Design Squad's racy debut!
- 1) The Challenge (5:38)
Watch the Show
Bonus Footage
Blue Team's Process
Red Team's Process
- 1) The Challenge (5:38)
- 2) Brainstorm (2:47)
- 3) Design (4:27)
- 4) Build (4:21)
- 5) Test (5:22)
- 6) Judging (6:06)
- 1) Cast Intros (00:47)
- How do you turn a toy wagon into a dragster using hand drills as the motor? The blue team came up with a design that would provide power and acceleration: a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
- A continuously variable transmission lets the wagon accelerate and go faster than the drill's top speed. This is how it works.
- When the team tested, they found that the string was too soft and got tangled up on the spool, but a stiffer steel cable was too hard and cut right through the spool's metal pipe!
- They needed something harder than string but softer than steel cable. They decided to try climbing rope, and it worked!
- The Bloo Boomer dragster was able to continuously speed up as it proceeded through the race.
- But halfway down the track, the rope in the CVT got tangled, and the vehicle broke down before the finish line! Bummer.
- How do you turn a tricycle into a dragster using hand drills as the motor? The red team decided to try a direct drive design.
- A direct drive design means the two drills are directly connected to the front wheel of the tricycle. Here's how it works.
- Initial testing showed that it was important for Natasha to stand and lean forward in order to keep the front wheel pressed hard against the ground.
- To provide the driver with a better way to control the trike's speed, they took the drills apart, replaced the wires inside with longer ones, and then attached the drill triggers all the way up on the tricycle's handlebars.
- Road tests also showed that the drills weren't gripping the trike's front wheel tightly enough to make it turn.
- The team decided to solve this problem using hose clamps.
- The position and weight of the driver helped the trike move efficiently down the track, and the driver was able to control acceleration. With this successful combination, the Red Baron won the challenge!
Make your own battery-operated car.
Make your very own mini-dragster.