So as the father of a Cub Scout, a car enthusiast, and a fairly competitive person, it stands that I would enjoy the annual Pine Wood Derby event. This year was no exception. You start with a block of wood, four nails (axels) and four wheels. Shape it, massage it, paint, the bring it up to weight. You have a race car!
Some key decisions:
1) Where to place the weight?
2) How to reduce rolling resistance?
3) How to minimize scuffing on track?
You get the picture.
Below is a picture of my car. We had the race today. I expected my car to finish poorly for a couple of reasons and my boy's car to finish much better for some other reasons. It turns out that my car ran pretty good. Easily in the top 10% out of 84 total cars. For adult / non scout cars, it was the fastest. I haven't yet seen the final results, but I am curious.
Some design high-lights: runs on three wheels (less friction); three wheel independent suspension; axels with reduced contact area; and polished wheels.
