Bevan and I started our Egg Drop Adventure on the Tuesday evening before Test Day.
We built a container using a square Chapman’s ice cream container, which we cut the sides out of.
Our thought was that this would allow air in, increasing the air resistance, to slow the container down in it’s fall. (Picture)
We suspended the microwave egg container, which had padding and bubble wrap inside, with elastics. This allowed the inner container some “give” while still having support – like a suspension bridge.
This container was within the restrictions as it contained no liquids, was within the size limits, had no parachute, used a raw uncoated egg, and also was fairly light.
We tested this container, and had it working at two meters, but that was landing on grass. (Picture)
We tested from the barn, which was about four meters, and that didn’t work. (Video)
We made a few more changes that night, trying to make the egg more secure and adding a bit more padding.
We left any more testing until Test Day on Thursday.
On Test Day, we tried our variation first, since if it didn’t work it could easily be converted into our original design.
The variation essentially had flaps instead of holes. (Picture)
We thought this may have increased the possible air resistance, but it just made it fall less straight, as well as harder, breaking the egg at two meters.
We changed the container back to the original and added some extra padding on the bottom where it was landing and taped the inner container for extra stabilization – like a seat belt.
It worked at two meters, (Picture)so we tried it at the five meters. (Video)
That test showed that we needed to completely rehaul our design, because modifications weren’t helping and all the extra stuff was just increasing the mass.
We were hoping to get the container to land softer with less impact, still use air resistance to our advantage, keep the egg padded and secure, and of course keep it as light as possible.
On the weekend, inspiration hit, and our new design was born.
This design features a crumple zone, with a cardboard tube rolled into a cone and the egg situated about two inches above the end of the cone, narrow end down. (Picture)
This allows the end of the tube to hit first, and then the impact spreads around the circumference of the egg, rather than a single point of impact.
We stuffed padding into the tube to make sure the egg was secure, and wrapped foam all around, for extra padding and protection. (Diagram)
We then placed balloons around the cylinder where the circumference of the egg is. This helps to ensure that when the cylinder falls over, the ground impacts padding rather than the egg.
The odd shape of the balloons also adds air resistance. This device is definitely not very aerodynamic!
We tested this container on Monday in class, and it worked at five meters! (Video)
It still fits within all the design specifications, and protects the egg!
Hopefully our design is light enough and works just as well tomorrow for Launch Day!
