Engineering races carbon dioxide cars

Amanda Hare, Executive Editor-in-Chief|April 28, 2022

The engineering classes, taught by Jenny Anderson and Daniel Geiter, built and designed carbon-dioxide powered cars. The students could 3D-print materials for their cars. Then, they drove their vehicles and reflected on their project’s effectiveness.

Featuring a Yoshi design, a car sits on the desk. Sophomore Calli Melancon created this car with her group. “We regretted painting the wheels white instead of using the color filament in the 3D printer,” Melancon said. “I was not sure how to change the filament and wanted to get a printer going before anyone else took it, so I just settled for the yellow. Painting the wheels took some time and didn’t end up coming out so well.” (Photo Courtesy of Calli Melancon)
Sitting on a white surface, a car shows neon spots. Sophomore Hudson Simon and his group created the car, and Simon said that splitting up work allowed them to play to each other’s strengths. “We struggled with the time constraint,” Simon said. “I was absent for more days than expected which meant that we went one day too long with the schedule, despite our attempts to make sure that this didn’t happen. I would make our design simpler so it was easier to make within the time constraints.” (Photo Courtesy of Hudson Simon)
A carbon dioxide car made by freshman Parker Eagan and his group features purple wheels and a red body. Eagan said that if they created another car, they would make it smaller. “The design for the jet mount worked out very well for us because we were able to house the carbon dioxide cartridge, although the mount itself was too small,” Eagan said. “It fit onto the back of our car very easily with the screws. The power tools were very easy to use and we only needed to use them a handful of times before our body was constructed.” (Photo Courtesy of Parker Eagan)
A car made by freshman Sophia Pujol and her group sits on a desk. Their car traveled the furthest of their class, and Pujal said they would changed the color and look of their car. “One choice that worked well for me was I designed the car body to be flat so that I could draw on a design last after sanding the car,” Pujal said. “I think that the measurements and dimensions of the car worked out well, because it wasn’t too large to where it would be too heavy and long, and it wasn’t too small to the point where it could break easily or be too light. The wheels were also sized to fit the body correctly and lined up perfectly with the carbon dioxide launcher.” (Photo Courtesy of Sophia Pujal)
A car made by freshman Emma Turner and her group features a pink base and purple wheels. Turner said that the car went a far distance, but if it was lighter, it may have gone farther. “If we received this assignment again, I would definitely add more design to the car,” Turner said. “Even though the simplicity of our car helped the mobility of the overall design, I still feel like we could have added more. We made a simple truck-shaped car, so next time we could branch out and create a more creative car.” (Photo Courtesy of Emma Turner)
A car sits on the desk. Freshman Dylan Drake and his group built the car, and he said the 3D printer messed up while printing the wheels, so the wheels were not ideal. “Three choices that worked really well were the carbon dioxide holster, the car body, and the wheels,” Drake said. “The carbon dioxide holster caused the carbon dioxide to freely boost the car in the most optimal position it could. The car body had the perfect amount of aerodynamics in order to reduce the total drag on our car. Lastly, the wheels on the car were a good size for the hook to fit on the bottom.” (Photo Courtesy of Dylan Drake)