Watt's Up Musings of an original geek

October 7: WOOHOO! The band clamp and wheels work.

Play videoEngineering Change 3: I had a thought, but I’m not going to pursue it. It would be nice to add in a simple one-way ratchet clutch mechanism so that when the car is rolled in reverse it tightens the rubber bands, but when it goes forward it does not. This would stop the roll back as shown in the video. However that would mean we’d need brakes whereas now it’s got automatic rubber band breaking.
Next I completed the signage the car, chair and rear wheels. I used brown paper to match with the overall color scheme. I put it through my printer without incident. Also I added flat “bumpers” to the front and rear to finish the ends. On the bumpers I added paper license plate holder and license plate.OK, I think it’s ready to go. That is, it’s all done. Click on picture to see larger image.
Update: Engineering Change 4: (wraparound drum) To provide more thrust the rubberbands should wrap around a 3″ to 4″ diameter drum instead of around the 1″ axle. Then the drum should be attached to the axle [how to do this is left as an exercise for the “student”]. Using a drum might also make Engineering Change 3 (one-way ratchet mechanism) easier to do.
Engineering Change 5: (seat pins) Since the seat is removal sometimes when pushing the seat to move the car back to wind it up the seat begins to rock backwards. So the car sides should have a way to pin the seat into the sides – maybe just two nails or a 1/4″ dowel.