As of now, we are working on mounting the wheels and controlling how the car turns. Mounting the wheels is not as simple as we anticipated. We experimented with drilling holes, threading wire and other different mounting systems. The best model we came up with, was 3D printing a part to hold the wheels wire secure on the base. It is a triangle with engravings for the wire to sit in, it also has screw holes to secure it. We are printing the peices right now. We are controlling how it turn, by a servo turning the front wheel. The way we are doing it, is by mounting a servo on the back to a wire, which attaches to the wheels wire(which comes up through the base). It is the most precisly turning model.

Last thursday, we finished out first model!! We strapped all the wires and RC peices on the top of the base. It was ready for a test. Everyone at NUVU gathered around to watch the testing. Sam drove it full speed, and it was clearly too much power. The car span a 180 degree turn, and was out of control. Then we noticed that the propellers polarization was incorrect, so we swiched them around. Now, the car goes extremely fast and is directed forward. The turning wasnt secured enough, so we worried it would fall off. It didnt, but it had a wider turning radius than we anticipated. It was really fun to work with, and showed us how fast it went!!! The next day, we reviewed the test and chose that we wanted to build a better model. This model will have 4 wheels for support, a better turning system, a braking system, and one RC propeller. We have designed a model on rhino, and have tested how we would mount the propeller in the middle of the body. Right now we are waiting on our RC wheels to come in. We just designed the turning system out of scrap wood, and will design the real model when the wheels come. The brakes are similar to the ones on a bike. We will have two brake blocks that will squeeze the wheel to stop. But again, we need the wheels to actually build it. 

      Yesterday, We chose to branch off from our Minibot to work on another project. We did this because we lacked materials, and it will take a few days to come. We had many ideas, until we thought of building an RC plane. This project wasn't quite enough, so we chose to mix our two ideas. We got the idea to build a propeller powered car. 

         At first, we wanted to build it out of foam, but we found foam was too light and couldnt support the propellers. Then we just chose to build it with wood. With our idea in mind, we designed it on Rhino. The car resembles a space ship. We cut two lines of triangles down the middle, which surprising reduces the weight by about 40%. The propellers will be mounted on the rear, where the fins go out. We also needed to raise the RC propellers, since they were about 7 inches long. We designed inserts on the main body, and made a rectangular platform to stand up. We put extrusions on the sides to stop it from going through, and holes for the RC motor to attach. We also added triangles to support the platform.

           After the design, we printed all the parts. We assembled with wood glue, supports/interlocking parts, and screws. The car will be mounted on three RC plane wheels, One in the front, which will be controlled by a servo, and two for the rear wings. These wheels are easy to work with, and extremely lightweight. We are attaching the wheels with the wire, clamps and glue. The RC motors have 5000 hp each. We are mounting 7 inch propellers that should easily propel this car forward. We will mount these motors to the wood platforms on the wings. We will attach them with the servo screws, which fit perfectly. 

      After we assemble this completely, we will program the servo and motors. We will also have to set up a MAX file to let us control the car by remote. Then we can test it!!!