land yacht school project

Protei Land Yacht

Introduction: Protei Land Yacht

The aim of this prototype was to develop a wind train from our last model , the Windtrain Umbrella that would have both improved performance and construction. We were more interested in making a single module that functioned well on its own than a long windtrain. In essence we where developing more of a performance land yacht which could be used a basis for our next generation of windtrain.

Step 1: Improvements From Our Last Model

Before we started drawing or planning our new design, we had to make our focus improving the weaknesses of our previous model. The main faults of our last design was that:

- The front wheel was prone to wobbling around due to the front leg of the vehicle being too long and flexible. To solve this problem, we formed the front leg of the vehicle from two 8mm aluminium poles running parallel together. This provided more overall stiffness and prevented the front wheel from rotating too much relative to the vehicle body.

- The design was very flimsy and flexible, we needed to make it more sturdy and rigid. The previous design had a very small wooden frame. This acted as more of a point for the legs to pivot around as opposed to a rigid frame that would make the model a sturdy structure. We therefore wanted to make a larger central wooden frame which would provide a firmer base for all the aluminium rods to extend from. Furthermore the shape of our new design was crucial, we therefore decided to look at alternative designs to the previous umbrella inspired setup.

- The umbrella design had very little room for electronics, therefore another reason warranting a larger wooden frame was the extra space this would allow for the electronics set up and personalisation.

- The connections between the windtrain modules were too long and flexible. This led to the trailing carriages to oscillate a lot, it appeared as if the back module was allowed to resonate as it was dragged along. This is not good for two reasons, it slows down the windtrain and weakens the structure. I therefore needed to make the connection between the modules shorter and stiffer.

- The center of mass of the sail is not aligned with the center of mass of the body of windtrain. As we can see in the picture, the center of mass of sail is about 50cm from the front wheel while the whole body is just 60cm. Although we may not be able to align them in the same line, we should always try to narrow down the distance between them by moving forward the center of mass forward, so that the windtrain can go straight without much effort to control.

Step 2: Design

The design we opted for was to have a larger central platform which would allow a single wheel axle to run through the back of it, two 8mm aluminium rods to run down the length of it (these would form the structure for the front wheel) and a cavity that would act as the foundations of the mast.

The collapsable element was the mast, it would be made up of a telescopic section that could slot on top of a section that was attached to the base frame. The lower section would be mounted to a pivot, thus allowing it to occupy a smaller space for collapsing and moving this vehicle around.

We made a prototype out of cardboard and left over pieces from our previous models as shown above. Furthermore we did some technical drawings to outline the dimensions and main features of the design.

The model would be made out of the following parts:

-5mm thick plywood (the laser file I used occupied a 300x500mm area, but the parts can be rearranged)

-3000mm of 8mm diameter aluminium rods

-Plastic screws and the corresponding

Attachments

Step 3: construction.

-5mm thick plywood (the laser file I used occupied a 300x600mm area, but the parts can be rearranged)

-Plastic screws

-Fabric for a sail (approxiamately 800x300mm)

I made up the laser files, using the drawings I did, and used these to cut out the wooden components for this build. I also had to cut the aluminium rods to the appropriate sizes, 4x600mm and 2x300mm pieces.

From then on I just had to put together the pieces which was done with very little difficulty and all the pieces fitted together nicely. I finally had a completed structure which I could then attach the electronics to. With thsi design I didn't include the electronic components in the planning of the vehicle, I wanted to be able to change elements of the electronics to suit the new design that I had made.

I ended up using the following electronic parts:

-2x Channel RC car controller

-4x AA batteries and battery pack

-2x High torque servos

I then arranged the electronics in the as shown by the pictures. In future models I hoped to integrate the electronics into the frame, but for now I was trialling different arrangements.

Step 4: Test

We went to test the design on a disused bit of land by the waterfront. We were hoping for this location to provide the most wind but unfortunately it was a very calm day. There wasn't sufficient wind to fully test this vehicle, however we had just enough wind to propel the vehicle downwind for short lengths. Another problem of the vehicle was due to the wheel size comp

Step 5: Amendment for a Better Land Yacht!

-How we bend the metal could be made more precise. The existing metal bending is done by bare hands, which means that will not be a good way to do for mass production. Since the means we used now will spend too much time and effort but get a product of less precision, we need to find machines to finish those work for accuracy.

-Integrating the Servos into the Wooden Frame. The position of the servos is not fixed so while the WindTrain is moving, the servos may be in misposition and fall down. We need to find a place and fix its position.

-Making a Taller Sail. The sail now can only capture relatively small wind power to propel, and that make the WindTrain quite slow even though there is homogeneous wind. The larger the sail, the larger the area of it will be and hence the larger wind power it will have.

-Height Adjustment of the Boom. The boom is quite high when we measure the distance from the plane attaching it. Most of the wind will therefore escape from the gap between the plate and the boom. We try to make a taller sail and lower the boom at the same time to increase the wind power captured.

-Let the Sail Servo Sweep in a Different Plane. The sail servo controls a wooden plate to swing in a bid to adjust the sail tension. However, the motion will hinder the swinging motion of the boom in some angles, especially in the wooden plate controlled by the servo is vertical. We will then try to make the sail servo sweep in a different plane, and we think being parallel to the ground is the best choice.

Step 6: Improved Prototype

We decided to act on the issues brought up with the previous model. We therefore redesigned some elements of our previous vehicle to produce a slightly modified update.

The changes made where:

-The laser cutting files were redesigned so that the electronics could be integrated with the frame of the vehicle. Furthermore we changed the plane of sweep for the rear servo by including a cavity for it to sit in.

-The previous model had small wheels that got caught up in cracks and deviations in the test surface. We therefore decided to make the new version with bigger wheels. The radius of the new wheels used was 70mm which was almost double the height of the previous wheels. The back axel could remain the same, but the front wheel fork had to be elongated to allow extra space for the bigger wheel. This was accomplished by a simple change in the laser cut files.

-The sail was made longer, we did this by using two 600mm lengths of aluminium rod instead of the previously used 600mm aluminium rod. We had to remake a sail out of the fabric that could suit these dimensions better.

-The metal was bent using a vice. We secured two identical aluminium rods running parallel in a vice, we then applied a force to adjacent parts of the rods creating a more accurate bend and reducing the difference in the form of the two rods.

-As well as integrating the servos into the base plates, we built a box that would sink into the base plate that would house some of the electronics. This would keep the electronics neatly in one place, as well as providing some protection from the elements.

-To provide more strength in the mast, we added pieces of string between the top of the mast and the extremities of the wheel axels.

-We wanted to make the design more collapsible and easier to transport. We therefore replaced the 8mm wheel axel at the back with a 10mm diameter aluminium rod which was fixed in place. This would then have two 8mm aluminium rods with fixed wheels that could slide in and out of this central rod. This would allow you to pull the wheels out when you want to travel with the landyacht in a way that we though would preserve the strength of the vehicle.

-To allow people to film from an fpv angle, an extra slit was added to the front piece. This would allow you to slot a mobile phone in, secured by rubber bands, to record or stream an fpv video of your ride.

Step 7: Test 2

Due to a lack of wind we set up a fan in the workshop to test this prototype.

-The new wheel axels did not compromise any strength or rigidity of the main frame, but they added extra width and fulfilled the desire for a collapsible system.

-The string attached to the top of the mast added a lot more strength in the mast. It reduced the amount of flex in the mast and removed some of the force acting on the connection at the base of the mast.

-The box housed the electronics very well although the parts rattled around within the box, and the corners of the box caught the main sheet.

-The extra slot for the phone allowed for a very smooth and clear video, however it was too low relative to the front wheel. This meant that the front wheel was the main focus of the video and occupied most of the screen.

Step 8: Improvements

Although our previous design ran well, we wanted to improve the following features.

-The box will be designed so that the baseplate of the main frame will form the base of the box. This will save weight and the need to manufacture extra pieces. Furthermore we are making the top of the box hinged as to make it more secure and rigid when the vehicle is moving around.

-The peg that the main sheet runs through is going to be elongated so that the hole is above the top of the box. This will reduce the chance of the mainsheet getting caught on the corners of the box. Also the peg will be made wider as to add strength to it and allow for wearing down of the wood over time.

-The string that was used to add lateral support to the mast will be replaced by steel cables. These will add more strength and will be secured in a different manner. The string was secure to the wheel axels by masking tape, which over time weakens and tears. Therefore we are looking at drilling holes in the axels and using screws and loops to secure the new cables.

-The electronics had a tendency to rattle around in the box, we are therefore adding a sheet of velcro to the base of the box. The electrical components can then be secured to the base of the box with small pieces of velcro. The velcro will be cheap and accessible, whilst allowing for customisation of the product.

-Although the phone mount worked to some degree for my model of phone, we want to make a more versatile platform that can be adapted for other filming devices. We are therefore researching the possibility of securing a tripod mount or ball and joint to the front rods or the the front of the base plate. This would allow for people to add their own mounts as well as providing a platform that can work with a greater range of devices.

Step 9: Summary

We have decided to stick with this final prototype. We are therefore looking into the availability and accessibility of the following parts required:

8mm Diameter Aluminium rods (total=2825mm): -3x600mm -2x400mm -125mm -100mm

10mm Diameter Aluminium rods (total=1040mm): -140mm -2x150mm -2x300mm

3x120mm Diameter Scooter Wheels + 6xBearings

250x160mm 4mm Thick Acrylic

Masking tape

280x610mm 5mm thick plywood

2200mm String Or 2200mm Steel Cable/Wire + 2xEnd Clamps/Fasteners

400mm String

1100x650mm Sail Fabric

22xPlastic Screws

2xFusonic MG-A-15KG Servos + Servo Heads

1x4AA Battery Pack

Furthermore we would like some feedback from people regarding our design and its potential uses. We have already handed a deconstructed model to a group of under 10 kids, and with no instructions left them to figure it out as shown. We now want to see how easy it is for others to understand, and the ways people modify and use it themselves.

LEGO Education Land Yacht

Hi everyone, it’s been a bit since I’ve shared what our boys LEGO Education co-op is doing, so I thought I’d give you all an update.

This week’s assignment was to create a “land yacht” using the gear skills they’ve learned mixed with some of the wind mill creations they’ve made recently to create a wind powered vehicle that can cross on land.

With this assignment the boys created a few variations of propellers and then discussed which worked out the best and why.

there were a couple of boys missing so Strawberry Shortcake and Tinker Bell were able to fill in for them. They had a great time and enjoyed participating.

Here is a close up of Strawberry Shortcake’s machine…she had a sail type wind powered car.

tinker Bell was the “wind source” for the group that day. Each one got to run their machine using a hair dryer to create some wind. They all discussed which ones went farthest, fastest, and smoothest and why.

I’ll share more of their group as we go. So far they’ve had a great time participating in this group and as a mama, I absolutely love the critical thinking skills and concepts taught in the LEGO Education products! I couldn’t recommend these more!

Want more information on LEGO Education ? Click any of the links below! They have products for all different grade and skill levels!

• LEGO Education Facebook
• LEGO Education Twitter
• LEGO Education on Pinterest
• LEGO Education on Instagram
• LEGO Education YouTube Channel
• LEGO Education Blog

We’re using the Simple and Motorized Mechanisms Base Set with our boys LEGO co-op group. You can use the kit alone, or purchase the Simple & Motorized Mechanisms Activity Pack separately which has all of the lesson plans written out for you. It’s literally a whole curriculum if you’d like to make this program into a more formal unit which we will do for next year. Here is how LEGO Education describes this kit:

“Using the activity pack, students will investigate the principles of simple machines, mechanisms, and structures; experiment with balanced and unbalanced forces and friction; measure distance, time, speed, and weight; and much more. The activity pack comes in a three-ring binder and provides 30 lessons featuring 37 principle model activities; 14 main activities, each with extension activities; and six problem-solving activities. Also included is a CD-ROM with teacher’s notes, student worksheets, and glossary.”

Disclosure: I received this product free for review on my website. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and were not influenced by the free product provided. We absolutely LOVE LEGO Education and can’t say enough about how cool this program is!

Hi Erica, What age did you start the Lego education? I have an upcoming first grader who I think would love it, but not sure if he is too young. Thanks!

First grade would be fine! As long as their pretty good at following LEGO instructions they’ll do great.

I am wondering about the Lego education co-op that your kids are a part of. You mentioned the set that you use The simple and motorized mechanisms base set and I am wondering if that is what each child needed or if the the whole group used the one set?

Hi Rebecca, the sets are meant to be used with a pair of students so 2 students to 1 set. You obviously only need 1 teacher’s manual/activity pack. But the box of actual LEGO pieces come with two books for each activity. Each student builds their half of the project, then they bring their individual projects together to create the final project.

I really enjoy your blog:) How did you find a lego co-op?

I would love to know more about this co-op. How did you start it or find it? How does it work? Does your family do any other co-ops? I think we actually go to the same church and I am homeschooling my son this year. I would love some resources on co-ops in the area to supplement our learning and work on our social skills.

Hi Sarah, I have a friend who started the group and I supplied the LEGO materials because they sent it to me for review for our group. But you can start up your own. We just meet once a month with about 6 boys. We’ve met for a few years and before using the LEGO Education materials we just did a theme. So everyone brought a creation to go with our theme for the month. They also bring a loose bag of LEGOs with them. Then after presenting their themed item, we have a 5 minute challenge where we give them something specific and they have 5 min. to create it, then they present that.

We do a weekly co-op as well.

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STEM Challenge: Boat Building

Premise: An Anytime STEM Challenge

Working against a criteria & constraints list, students will make a boat designed for capacity and/or speed (new twists included in the newly-updated version of this challenge)!I think of this as an “anytime” STEM challenge, but it’s perfect for the end of the school year and summer.

Materials: Easy, Low-Cost, Flexible

At least one per class, if not one per student or group:

• Container filled with water to test the boats (be sure to choose a container with appropriate dimensions, or constrain students on length, width, height accordingly. For sailing tests, stream tables, under-bed-storage bins , or kiddie pools work well). – Set of uniform objects to measure capacity (pennies, base-ten blocks, paperclips, balance weights, bouncy balls, etc.)

For each student or group:

• Modeling clay , Crayola Model Magic , foil and/or wax paper sheets
• Index cards , paper , coffee filters , etc.
• Tape (masking tape or packing tape perform best, constrain to 12 in. or less)

Build-A-Boat Video Walk-through

If you’re familiar with my work, you know I’ve been switching over to using video to explain the bulk of my STEM challenges. It seems to be the best/fastest way to explain the important details: materials, set-up, tips, modifications, extensions, demonstrations, and more!  Who has time to read all that?! However, if you do prefer to read instead, you’ll find the video transcription at the end of this post.

Want to Save a Ton of Time? Get the Resource!

Printable or paperless.

A paperless version for use with Google Slides(TM) is also available.

While this a stand-alone challenge, I have also created 5 challenges for summer/the end of the school year ! You can find the overview of each on this  blog post .

Please reach out with any questions and tag me in photos of your students’ work on Facebook & Instagram .

You can find even more STEM challenges in my Mega Bundle, on this blog, and on my YouTube channel !

Video Transcription

0:52 about boat challenges, 1:35 boat challenge examples & ideas, 2:24 making the competition fun, 3:13 choosing materials for boats, 3:58 weighted materials like pennies or marbles, 4:47 additional materials and considerations, 5:45 printable or paperless resource with everything you need + teacher guide, related posts.

5 Halloween STEM Challenge Activities

Easter & Spring STEM Challenges

A Certain Shade of Red A Physics Land Yacht Project in 2006

This project started on 02 Feb 2006 when I was 16 years old as a JC1 student in Raffles Junior College. The final project report is reproduced below almost verbatim, and documents the project quite comprehensively. As for the actual construction process, I quote from my journal (with some edits):

Today for physics we were told of some building thing, which we have to build some land yacht. Similar to Mr. Lim B. H's physics projects, but I think it's not as a good. For one they tell you not to make your own wheel holes (they provide some white bottle caps) because they think a whole group of the smartest 16 and 17 + year olds in the country can't safely handle Basic machining tools like drills, and cannot drill holes properly. Anyway, it's wiser to drill a hole first than to make a wheel, because that's what people mostly do, even with CNC'ed wheels! And do you really trust the lab people to drill accurate holes (they have to, after all drill hundreds of holes dead centre of circles)? So I think my group shall make the wheels ourselves :). Saves them some trouble too.

I formed a group of 4 with some classmates, and on 5th Feb 2006 , I started doing some proper research...

Was doing some research on the Physics land yacht. Actually if it was to make an amphibian vehicle it would be a lot cooler, but no we are just doing it on land, which is not very exciting. Anyway, there is a lot to read about sails and how to make it as efficient as possible. So actually if you take it seriously, it's not exactly very easy after all... but using a fan to generate wind is actually a very bad idea due to the mechanics of how the sail works.

06 Feb 2006 was when I made the first prototype, as you can see in the photograph below. It has a very skeletal construction and was perhaps, a bit too elaborate. Used a good number of bamboo skewers, novel techniques to shape them (e.g. fire to bend the wood for the chassis) and a very light (but flimsy) sail made out of clear wrap.

Today I made a prototype for the physics land yacht thing. So far it looks promising, but I can't post the details here. It moves in a light breeze . Still have lots to improve .Took quite a bit of time to make Ugh. Need to do my other work now and I'm really sleepy.

10 Feb 2006

Today I rebuilt a 2nd prototype for the physics land yacht with an improved chassis design, using a grand total of 4 satay sticks including the axle. I used a heavier simpler less efficient paper sail (temp) but it still performs mighty well. Flies when using a Delta Focused Flow 120mm DC fan! Design looks more promising, and it's easier to build. Still can't figure out some things regarding sails. I think my chassis design is actually not too bad.

Having got the land yacht design more or less finalized, I built the final model on 12 Feb 2006 , and started working on the aesthetics and project report. The final model is as below.

Note that I replaced the front wheel with a skid, shifted the sail back, and added a flaming paper decal.

17 Feb 2006 - The Competition (Building part) Day! Although I had already worked on 3 models, the competition required us to build the actual yacht model at the physics lab in a specified time under specific conditions. As I recall..

Today was the Physics land yacht building competition. Since we had planned it quite ok and I had built 3 models already, it was a rather easy task building it. So we spent about 1hr trying to make it look nice. I didn't have enough red ink so in the end I ended up with this paint scheme which I think looks reasonable ok. And check out those flaming hot wheels! Anyway, we spent a whole lot of money (800) though we had a quite a bit of extras leftover. I think it is possible to use some crafty method to make the yacht incredibly cheap and travel a medium distance, yet winning a the competition because of the loopholes in the calculation (distance traveled over cost or something like that). But then that's not the point in the competition. Penetrating power is not exactly very good for ours but I tried to minimize it by using an effective sail shape (hopefully). Decided to use a skid for the front because due to the nature of the design, the force exerted on that part is low, and hence unless a very efficient axle/wheel is used, the wheel might not even spin and hence still act as a skid, while increasing weight. The second advantage is that once the craft decelerates from drag of the sail, the design will case a rotation about the main axle and hence reduce force on the skid, hence reducing friction. But anyway, I'm happy with the design (though less than ideal) and the aesthetics (which we spent quite a bit of time doing). Yacht name is... A Certain Shade of Red ! Perhaps if we're lucky we can win! And by right everyone should have had finished building their yacht. So if you happen to have not built it yet hopefully you won't try and copy the design because then it's not fun and not the point anyway right? =).

24 Feb 2006 - Competition Day

The first half of Physics practical was spent having a tutorial, before we proceeded to a room called Space 1 (I think) for the physics yacht testing. After having heard of how the testing was like, I had quite low expectations for our craft, because it was designed exactly not for the competition (just a fan blowing at it), but rather as a real land yacht with constant wind. Expected to go about 4 metres. The test floor was also much rougher than I expected, but in the end, I think it did quite ok and went more than twice of my expected, which is good. Wasn't disappointed in that (8+m, versus 11+ which some others acheived), but was slightly disappointed that I didn't actually consider how the testing would be like and designed the craft for the competition itself (but it's not exactly the point). Perhaps thinking too much isn't really helpful. But now I do have some great plans on how to make a very good craft that would efficiently perform in that competition setting. Anyway. But I think my craft A Certain Shade of Red does look rather nice. And I still like my design. We learn everyday.

02 Mar 2006 - Results Day

We had the Physics prize presentation for Physics.. and it was rather funny how the physics lecturer said that our project report seemed to be written for a scientific journal, and how the design was so comprehensively thought out. And surprise! Our class did pretty well. Nike got a commendation prize, and A Certain Shade of Red got Best Design and Report prize of $200! Unfortunately they were Borders vouchers.. I would have preferred cold hard cash. But anyway, it was fun!

So this is the story of my little land yacht project! And as mentioned above, here is the project report:

INTRODUCTION

In this project, we were faced with the challenge to design and build a land yacht, with size (to fit inside a paper ream box for 2500 sheets), material and construction (must be constructed inside the physics lab in 2 hours) limitations. A land yacht is a vehicle that moves on land and is entirely propelled by wind. The main performance will be characterized by 3 main techniques (competition): Distance [ distance traveled when propelled by a fan ], Distance per cost [ cost effectiveness, since we will need to 'buy' the materials ], and Aesthetics. Hence a few goals were set to achieve these as well as possible:

1. Design of chassis and sail will be as aesthetically pleasing as possible 2. Materials used will be kept to a minimum, to reduce cost 3. Made to travel as efficiently as possible, as a land yacht model

Materials provided are as follows: bamboo sticks, ice-cream sticks, light string, straws, super glue, scotch tape, sail material (plastic, paper, aluminium foil) . Most efficient use of the materials is important to reduce cost, and yet being beneficial to the performance characteristics of the entire vehicle.

Main Chassis Design In order to make a most efficient design, the chassis would have to be designed as efficiently as possible. After research, it was noticed that most designs were similar, with 3 main contact points – two rear wheels and a front wheel. Three points define a plane; hence to reduce weight, a chassis with 3 contact points was designed from the beginning. The chassis had to be as stable as possible, and include a mast. In order to maximize efficiency, the chassis was designed to fit just under the size limit. In order for the craft to be stable, its base area was designed to be as large as possible. Hence the main axle length was made to be 20cm long, with the 3rd point as far away as possible from the rear axle. After some consideration, a minimalist design was created to be as strong as possible, yet using as little material as possible. Material choice of the chassis was limited to bamboo sticks, ice-cream sticks and straws. Bamboo sticks were chosen for their exceptional material properties (light and strong), and material dimensions (they are long, hence does not require joining unlike ice-cream sticks). Once the chassis was created (diagrams below), a mast had to be attached. The mast was placed near the rear of the base, this provides greater stability compared to a yacht with the sail situated close to the front, because a much greater force would be needed to provide sufficient torque to tip the yacht over about its front end (which would act as the pivot point in that case). The chassis had to be made as rigid as possible – flexing is detrimental as energy would be spent flexing the members instead of accelerating the vehicle. Hence the use of triangulation was used extensively in the minimal frame, resulting in a very strong, rigid yet lightweight frame. By Newton’s second law a = F/m . Hence given a force of equal magnitude, a less massive vehicle will experience greater acceleration, allowing it to reach greater speeds and hence cover more distance in a shorter period of time. Vehicle Component Design Sail Design

Before designing the sail shape, research was done to find out how competition land yachts had their sail designed. It was discovered that sail design was a main factor in yacht performance. A well designed sail can accelerate a vehicle to almost three times the speed of the wind due to an airfoil shape which creates a low pressure at the front of the sail. Most land speed record sails were rigid, thin and high, and were most efficient in constant strong wind. However, these required precise sail shaping and acceleration was slow (though with high top speed). We were constrained by materials and hence a different option had to be taken. While sailing downwind, water yachts frequently deploy an extra sail specifically for use in downwind, called a Spinnaker. It resembles a parachute somewhat in both construction and appearance, and when deployed, it fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat. One main difference when compared to a normal sail is that a spinnaker is a type of airfoil and does generate lift. Lift and drag generated by the spinnaker act both to move the craft forward; hence lift-to-drag ratio is not important. The goal is then to generate the maximum possible lift with no consideration of drag. Hence most spinnakers have extreme amounts of camber, making them nearly hemispherical in form. The large camber maximizes the low pressure on the downwind side of the sail, generating the lift. Material Choice of the sail was limited to aluminium foil, mahjong paper and plastic sheet. The lightest material was chosen for the sail to reduce the overall weight of the yacht. Hence paper was chosen as it was the lightest per surface area, cheapest, and easy to decorate (aesthetics). With the same net force acting on a lighter craft, there is greater acceleration, and speed is enhanced. The general shape was triangular with a smaller sail area at the top of the yacht. This will lead to improved stability under strong wind. We tried to make it as similar to a standard spinnaker design as possible. A vertical half-fold was made and further cuts and folds were made (refer to physical model), giving the sail curvature, resembling an air-foil. Although in a general case scenario, a land yacht is supposed to be designed to move in constant uniform wind, not a strong but decaying wind from a fan. That means the wind strength will decrease as the craft is further away from the wind source (during competition). In order to better satisfy the greater distance performance test, drag of the sail was designed to be minimal. Air resistance is a force opposing the motion of the yacht, reducing the net force acting on it to move it forward, and hence slowing it down ( a = F net /m ); the larger the surface area of the sail, the greater the drag/air resistance experienced by the yacht. Thus we did not set out to make the sail as large as possible. Furthermore, the vertical fold along the middle of the sail gives it a “cutting” edge, allowing it to “cut” into the wind, i.e. air meeting the edge travels smoothly over the surfaces on either side of the fold (similar to an airfoil). In this way, drag is greatly reduced, as opposed to a sail with a full surface perpendicular to the wind.

Wheels, Axle and Bearings

An important factor in efficiency was to reduce the energy losses in due to friction. All moving parts were designed to be as efficient as possible (low friction). Wheels were made using a thin but stiff laminated wood sheet, which exhibited excellent rigidity yet being light and strong. Having lightweight wheels is especially important because the weight of the wheel has to be accelerated both forward and around its centre. Also, F s,max =μ s FN. Hence, wheels/vehicle of smaller mass would experience a smaller normal force and hence lower F s,max. This will lead to increased acceleration with the same amount of force applied. After experimenting with some designs, it was decided that a skid was to be used for the front of the vehicle instead of a wheel, because due to the nature of the design, (where the main body of the yacht is situated towards the back and the front consists solely of a long shaft,) the force exerted on the front end of the vehicle is low. Hence unless a very efficient front wheel is used, it might not spin, thereby acting as a skid while increasing weight. [This was verified experimentally. Furthermore, it was difficult to construct brackets to support the front bearings without adding significant weight, which will increase weight and construction time]. The second advantage is that once the craft decelerates from drag of the sail, the design will cause a rotation about the main axle and hence reduce force on the skid and reducing friction. Bearings were made using rolled paper tubes. This was possible because our sail was to be made using paper, hence leftovers were used to make the paper tubes. To reduce friction, the bearings were made a short as possible, 1.6cm long. To reduce bearing and axle friction, graphite from a 6B pencil was used. Axle was made using a single bamboo skewer.

Aesthetic Design Aesthetics is no doubt important. Since the entire yacht design is very minimalist, there is very little of the structure to decorate, except the bamboo members of the frame, the sail and the wheels. The name of the yacht was decided to be A Certain Shade of Red, with primary colours being black and red. The wheels were coloured bright red using a marker, and the frame coloured black. One advantage of the sail being made of paper allows it to be easily coloured using markers instead of paint, which is heavier. A red black and white flame scheme was then applied using markers to the white sail with good results, yet not significantly increasing weight.  

CONSTRUCTION

Chassis Construction Since the entire mainframe is made using bamboo sticks, one of the most important factors in ensuring frame rigidity and strength lies in the joining of the different structural members of the structure. The structure is only as strong as the weakest link, which more often than not, is the weakest joint. The adhesive material of choice is Cyanoacrylate superglue, which is a strong acrylic resin. In order to create maximum bond strength, contact surfaces were cut to have a maximum flat area (such as joining at angles, whereby the ends of each bamboo stick are cut to the exact angles to ensure a flat bonding surface), and hence maximum area for the glue to bond. Although time consuming, it proved to be an important factor in ensuring greater structural strength. Hence less material would be needed to be used. [Please refer to diagrams below] The main base was constructed using a single 258mm long bamboo stick. An 85mm stick was glued perpendicular to one end of the stick at the middle, with two 105mm sticks originating 21mm from the end of the long stick, acting as the main lateral supporting structure. A 255mm bamboo stick was glued 31mm from the end of the long stick at a 63 degree angle, supported from the sides via two 70mm sticks. The main axle was a 198mm stick which was affixed to the ends of the lateral supporting limbs using a bit of tape and superglue, via paper bearings. The complete craft, including the axle, required 936mm of bamboo stick, or roughly 3.7 stick lengths (each 10 inches), which is very economical (sticks come in packs of 5). This results in a very lightweight craft (efficient) and economical, satisfying two of our goals. Wheel, Skid and Bearing Construction Wheels are very important as a perfect circle with a true centre is required for the smoothest possible travel. Wheels were first cut out from a stiff laminated wooden sheet. A 2mm hole was drilled. The wheel was then attached to a mandrel and spun at 15,000rpm using a rotary tool. Sandpaper was then used to grind the wheel down until it was as perfectly round as possible. Both wheels were grinded down at the same time to ensure that they are of the same size. The hole was then subsequently enlarged using a pointy grinding bit to fit on the axle tightly. The wheel was then glued to the axle using a small amount of cyanoacrylate. The completed wheels are 31mm in diameter. Bearings were made by rolling up a 60 x 16mm wide strip of paper, which was first rubbed with a large amount of graphite from a pencil to act as a lubricant. The result is a relatively smooth running axle. The skid was made using a small bamboo stick triangle, with a strip of bamboo acting as the main skid. Lubrication is done using graphite. Sail Construction The sail was made from paper. An isosceles triangle with base 240mm and height 275mm was cut out. Three triangles (refer to scale drawings below) were cut out, and the paper folded and then taped together, to form a curvature. As few cuts were done as possible to reduce weight gain, as taping the edges together requires more tape. The sail is then affixed to the chassis. The top of the sail was taped and glued to the top of the mast, while the other two edges were connected to the ends of the lateral limbs, near the wheel bearings. Effective sail area is about 300cm 2 . Total Materials Required: - 93.6cm of Bamboo Stick (~3.7 sticks) - 300cm 2 of Paper for sail - 19.2cm 2 of Paper for bearings - 6B pencil (graphite) for lubrication - Cyanoacrylate Superglue - Small amount of tape - 2 Wheels, Bamboo skid - Decorating materials (markers)  

Before the actual model was made, several test models were also built to find out if there were any major flaws in the design. Due to the low weight of the vehicle, yet large sail area, the craft was able to catch a lot of wind (force) and because F=ma and m is very small, the resultant acceleration for our vehicle was great, and also lead to a high velocity because v = u + at. Hence our craft was both fast, and quick to accelerate. The simple symmetrical design also contributed to the fact that the vehicle travels straight. This is beneficial in the test whereby a fan is used to generate wind. The only drawbacks in our design are that the skid is only good for certain surfaces, such as smooth concrete floors. Secondly, the craft’s low mass also results it being able to slow down quickly. Taking force F to be drag, the resulting deceleration from drag (once the craft travels far from the fan) is also rather large. To solve this problem the entire yacht could be made heavier, but then initial acceleration will be affected. However in normal land yachting, wind is supposed to be kept constant, and not like a table fan, whereby the wind decreases away from the fan. We have taken measures to reduce frontal drag (as mentioned above). Therefore vehicle performance will increase in a constant uniform wind. .

Black: Wheels Brown: Main Frame Green: Mast + Supports Blue: Axle Red: Sail Grey: Paper Tube  

[Figure 2, Scale Blueprint Plans]

Above is an accurate 1:2 scale technical blueprint of the actual yacht model (including measurements),  including to-scale drawings of the sail plan as well as top & side design layouts. *My scanner isn't working at the moment, so I just took a photograph of the plans*

PROJECT CREDITS

Done by Gao Guangyan, Daniel Lo, Cheryl Quah and Nicole Quah of class 07S06R of Raffles Junior College, Singapore. Physics project report – land yacht building competition 2006. [Project Report: 23 Feb 2006]

First complied on 08 December 2008, Monday.

Back to main page (c) Gao Guangyan 2008 Projects Contact: loneoceans [at] gmail [dot] com

Building land yachts and making sustainable materials choices in Design and Technology

I teach in a large urban Secondary school and have been embedding Global Citizenship in my teaching for many years. The pupils here are predominantly white-English ethnicity.

This case study was carried out over 12 weeks with several classes of 11-12 year olds undertaking a Design and Technology project: a prototype of a land yacht leisure vehicle. The vehicle had to be wholly powered using wind energy, thus having a global footprint significantly lower than that of other leisure vehicles e.g. beach buggies or quad bikes.

In addition, pupils were encouraged to make the most sustainable design choices to minimise the damaging impact on the environment and the planet as a whole. This resulted in a considerable amount of time being spent considering actions they could take for a more sustainable future, and experimenting with re-using and re-claiming materials. The balance between function, style and environmental impact is always a difficult challenge for designers.

Measuring activity

Without the emphasis of sustainability on the project we assumed that, given the choice of brand new wheels, masts and sails or glossy (as opposed to slightly flawed) High Impact Polystyrene (HIP), the pupils would have selected the most glamorous and non-sustainable choices. The teachers hoped that, since sustainability had to be kept in mind, pupils would make innovative, more sustainable design choices.

Initially, pupils had the chance to mind-map their first thoughts. They then began the design process. In the early stages, they carried out a group diamond ranking activity. They had to arrange nine statements about dealing with waste that they had previously explored and defined in class ( Recycle, Refill, Reuse, Reclaim, Rethink, Refuse (vb), Repair, Recharge, Reduce ), putting the actions that they thought had most impact for a sustainable future at the top of the diamond, and those having least at the bottom.

Following the activity, a whole class discussion reinforced the understanding of the concepts. For homework, pupils were presented with nine different circular items (milk bottle tops, coke bottle tops, discarded CDs, tins, cotton reels, construction kit cogs, wooden wheels, Meccano® wheels) that could be used as wheels on a land yacht. Their task was to arrange the wheels in a diamond rank, positioning the most sustainable at the top of the diamond and adding notes so that they could justify their decisions.

The teacher intended to use the Re-Activity statements to measure change in attitudes towards materials and sustainability choices, and then to see the actual design-and-make choices they made when producing their land yachts, and their justifications for these.

The pupils continued going through the stages of the design process – defining a specification list that included points about sustainability – and then designing, experimenting with and making the yacht body, mast arrangement, sails shape, structure and material wheel and axle combinations.

Throughout they were required to consider sustainability alongside style, function and performance – and to justify all of their decisions. The project culminated in a performance test to see how the land yacht travelled when put in front of an electric fan to simulate the wind. The pupils had to evaluate the success of the land yacht with their specification points in mind.

Initially when the pupils completed their homework of defining the Re-Activity words they showed good understanding of the terms but mostly forgot that the process of recycling itself was energy consuming. Subsequent discussion was animated and passionate, teachers having to curtail it in order to have time to complete the whole activity. Pupils adjusted their definitions and added more to explain the semantic subtleties.

The following week the pupils completed the diamond ranking, discussing what they remembered about the nine words and their implications for sustainable choices. At first, the small group work was varied. Some groups put the attitudinal words like Re-think and Re-fuse towards the top and Re-cycle at the bottom, as they agreed this was the most high-energy consuming. Some placed attitudinal actions towards the bottom, saying that what people think would have little impact for a sustainable future.

The teachers drew the activities together in a whole class diamond rank activity, initially identifying the least contentious of the nine words, and placing them in fairly unanimously agreed positions. Then groups volunteered the position of the rest of the Re-actions, justifying their decision. If groups strongly disagreed, they also had to justify their decision. Eventually the whole class established a complete diamond rank with Re-cycling towards the bottom and Re-duce towards the top. The teachers felt confident that all pupils understood and could explain the differences between recycling and reusing and that energy consumption was one of the biggest factors for sustainability. The final diamond rank wheel activity, completed individually, included justifications about raw materials, harm to the environment, recyclability, and energy.

Teachers had expected to see strong evidence that pupils used what was learned through the Re-Activity and diamond ranking exercises. Many pupils made frequent reference to sustainability throughout the design process, specifying for example, the use of least 2 reclaimed materials in their land yachts, or a sail made from an unwanted plastic carrier bag. Some were determined to use recycled HIP to make the land yacht body; others wanting to use the new HIP were keen to design a shape that would minimise waste, and ensured all off-cuts were added to the recycling box.

A few were particularly determined to design and make vehicles using predominantly reclaimed or recycled materials, and to minimise waste where new materials were unavoidable. These pupils used the correct terminology, revealing a full understanding of the difference between recycling and reclaiming, an eagerness to spread the word and a will to take positive action by using less energy and fewer resources.

However some pupils made tenuous or no reference to sustainability, only considering the style and performance of the land yachts. When it came to evaluating them, almost all evaluative comments related to performance, rather than sustainable design. For example, they talked about how far and fast their land yachts moved, how smoothly the wheels rotated, how straight the line of movement was, how the sail ‘caught’ the wind, how stylish the land yacht was, etc. No pupil evoked the benefits of people adjusting their hobby interests to those that are less fuel-guzzling, and yet this was included in the initial brief statement.

Pupils completed land yachts; some made using recycled HIP

The diamond ranking activity was used both as an audit to gauge the initial understanding and attitudes of pupils, but also for teaching. Thus measuring the impact was not achieved by repeating the activity, but through examination of how pupils made their design, make and evaluation decisions.

In the plenary sessions, pupils successfully explained aspects of sustainable futures, carbon footprints, reducing energy consumption, ecology, pollution and the over-exploitation of the earth’s resources. Although all pupils seemed to grasp the concepts of sustainability and dealing with waste, few took positive sustainability actions themselves when making and testing their land yachts.

When constructing the land yachts, it was more difficult for pupils to use reclaimed materials, such as bottle tops, as adapting these into strong and stable wheels required more thinking, more perseverance, greater imagination and stronger practical ability. Using new and bespoke materials was easier, and some pupils unhesitatingly took this route. Initially most experimented with reclaimed materials; some then selected new, untouched materials whilst others persevered with the more challenging route. The teachers have realised that ideally more time developing pupils’ skills would help them achieve more success in designing and constructing with reclaimed materials.

The teachers have concluded that they were responsible for the lack of sustainability action from the pupils. Since one of the assessment criteria evaluated pupils’ practical capabilities, the focus was on how well the land yacht was designed and constructed, and thus ultimately on its performance (how far it travelled). The teachers hadn’t allowed enough time for testing and evaluating the carbon footprint of each land yacht. They are working on devising an activity in which the pupils will devise their own carbon footprint scale, and measure the success of their land yachts using this too.

This Case Study is featured in the following Activity Collections:

Re-activity.

Re-activity This is an alternative version of the activity What’s the best way to protect the environment? designed to find out about the impact of our choices specifically in relation to consumption and waste. What do I want to find out? What pupils think and know about the impact of our choices on the environment, the… Read more »

What’s the best way to protect the environment?

What do I want to find out? What pupils think and know about the impact of our choices on the environment, the connections between local environmental actions and global impacts, and their own willingness to take action for the environment. Which pupils? 7 – 16 years (with adaptations for 3-7 years & Special Educational Needs)… Read more »

Yacht Design

• Art & Design

It may seem counterintuitive, but design constraints usually help drive creativity . In this course students will look at one of the most constrained areas of design: the layout and construction of a yacht.

Yacht Design for Middle and High Schoolers

This course is led by a seasoned designer who has spent many years designing and overseeing the construction of luxury yachts. Along the way we will learn how practical requirements—like staying afloat!—drive the design process of boats. We’ll interrogate that process itself and learn how yacht design has evolved in recent years driven my new materials and new lifestyles. We’ll learn how to sketch out our ideas—by hand and on computer—and test them against real-world constraints.

This course is designed for students in middle school or high school who have a strong interest in design, live on boats, or are simply intrigued by boat design. Since it is led one-to-one, it is open to any student, and will be adjusted according to your background in design.

Yacht Design Course

Yacht design is a niche, with only a handful of well-known names producing some spectacular designs. The interiors, exteriors, and all systems in a boat are designed to be practical, forced by constraints like lack of space, the marine environment, and the need to incorporate aspects of a vehicle (engine, etc.), a resort (dinghies and other smaller vessels) and house into a single, unified unit. Whether it is a working vessel, luxury yacht, or a family’s floating home, design at sea has to tightly fitted and ergonomic. Boat builders and yacht designers strive to fit many things into very small spaces, which calls for good problem-solving skills and excellent lateral thinking. Yet, there is a fine balance between the two needed to still make it look good.

There has been a large movement to a nomadic lifestyle, especially living on board a yacht as your primary home, so understanding the thought processes and design decisions that go into the build is very important.

During this course we will learn about the different styles and types of boats, the build and design process from start to finish, and understand the basics for what needs to be onboard a boat in order to make it livable and safe. We will look at the basics of design and the principals that can be applied when designing interiors of yachts and how yacht design has progressed over the years.

Core Concepts in our Yacht Design Course

During our time together you can expect to cover the following topics and skills:

• Design Thinking – we’ll begin with some lessons on design thinking and problem solving in design.
• Yacht Design History – we’ll look at how yachts have evolved in recent years and some external forces influencing their design.
• Hands-on Projects – we’ll dive into designing our own yacht, based on a set of needs and constraints
• Sketching and CAD – we’ll practice both hand sketching and also basic computer-aided design (CAD).
• Specification – we’ll cover how to spec out the materials for construction
• Construction Process – we’ll finish up with lessons on how construction happens and basic project management skills.

Personalized Learning

At the end of this one-to-one, personalized course you will have a strong foundation for doing more advanced work in design, generally, such as our architecture course or animation course .

View All Courses

Inquire about this course, inquire about adult learning, match me with a teacher, contact teacher.

How to Build a Boat: 25 Designs and Experiments for Kids

If you subscribe to the Inspiration Laboratories newsletter , you know we had fun making boats a while back. I’ve been collecting ideas for how to build a boat ever since. You’ll love these ideas. They are kid-friendly, doable, and you probably have the supplies for most of them on hand.  I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

How to Build a Boat

Materials to Consider

What materials can you use to make a boat that actually floats?  Here’s a list to get you started:

• Paper (will it need to be waterproofed?)
• Plastic container
• Egg cartons
• Cardboard (will it need to be waterproofed?)
• Orange peel
• Craft sticks
• Sticks from a tree or other pieces of wood

What other materials am I leaving out? Comment below and let me know.

More to Consider

What else do you need to construct the boat? String or something to fasten pieces together? Glue or tape? Will the boat fall apart once it’s placed in the water?

Our egg carton boat was simply made by placing a straw into the egg carton and taping on a piece of paper. It floated in the bathtub pretty easily. We didn’t test the sail. Would it actually work?

Who will the passengers be? What will the boat carry?

After building the boat, see how much weight it can hold. (Pennies are a good option for older kids to use.)

Ways to Build a Boat

Create a boat building challenge.

• Try this Cork Raft Building Challenge from Kitchen Counter Chronicles.
• Discover which materials make the best boats . Science Sparks shows you how.
• Design a speedboat and test to see if it will float like Creative Family Fun.
• Teach Preschool set up two boat building stations with different materials. Compare the designs and see how they’ll float.
• Allow your child to decide on the materials they’ll need to build a boat that floats as well as how they’ll design the boats. Planet Smarty Plants tells of their design process.
• Here’s a simple boat science experiment from East Coast Mommy. Build boats, test their buoyancy, and predict how many rocks it will take to sink them. Check out their materials and design.
• What unique materials could you use? The Craft Train made their boats using sponges and duct tape .
• Craftulate has 5 boat designs . I especially like the way they made the speedboats out of foam.
• Challenge your child to build a hydrofoil . How much weight can it hold before sinking? Kids Activities Blog has the instructions.
• Let you child be in charge of investigating different boat designs . Will a shell work for a boat? Fantastic Fun and Learning finds out.

Design a Boat Powered by Wind

• Learn how to make a paper boat from My Little 3 and Me. What types of paper work best?
• NurtureStore shows us 3 ways to make a sail boat . Pay attention to the design of the sail.
• Add some sparkle to your design. Mama Pappa Bubba made cork sail boats with sparkly sails .
• Create a boat from a juice box . hands on : as we grow has the plan.
• Make pool noodle boats like Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.
• Build wax boats like these from Housing a Forest.
• Race duck tape boats across the water. Mess for Less tells us how.
• These ice boats made of natural materials from Reading Confetti are simply lovely.

Build a Boat Powered by Something Other Than Wind

• Make a self-propelled tug boat . Red Ted Art has the tutorial.
• Make a balloon powered egg boat . Capri+3 has instructions and a video to show you how.
• Or try this balloon powered boat from Life with Moore Babies.
• This baking soda powered boat from Science Sparks is sure to be a hit.
• Adventure in a Box builds a toy wooden paddle boat .
• Sail a boat down a homemade river like Gift of Curiosity.

Share a picture of your boats with me on Inspiration Laboratories on Facebook !

More Hands-On Science Ideas for Kids

• 20 Ways to Build a Rocket: Experiments and Crafts for Kids
• 10 Ways to Make a Volcano with Kids
• 8 Egg Drop Experiments plus ideas and tips for designing your own

Subscribe to our newsletter and get exclusive science explorations for young scientists in each issue.

This post was originally published on April, 28 2015.

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Voronezh Oblast

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Voronezh Oblast is in Russia 's Chernozemye region, bordering Ukraine to the southwest, Belgorod Oblast to the west, Kursk Oblast to the northwest, Lipetsk Oblast to the north, Tambov Oblast to the northeast, Ulyanovsk Oblast to the northeast, Volgograd Oblast to the east, and Rostov Oblast to the south.

• 51.671667 39.210556 1 Voronezh — the regional capital is a major cultural, economic, and transit hub for the surrounding regions and a center of the contemporary Russian Communist movement (due to very high unemployment); be sure to visit the excellent collection of Western and Russian art at the Kramskoy Museum; the city is also the birthplace of many famous Russians, including writers Ivan Bunin and Andrei Platonov (the poet Osip Mandelshtam was exiled here also), as well as the great Russian painter Ivan Kramskoi

Other destinations

Voronezh is considered the heart of the "Black Earth Region," a rich soiled region in the south of Central Russia . In its post-Soviet history it has also come to be known as the heart of Russia's "Red Belt," the center of contemporary Russian communism, owing to its high unemployment levels. An interesting read for visitors is Black Earth City , an account written by Charlotte Hobson, a foreign student visiting the capital in 1991 – 92.

Chances are high that you will need either some knowledge of Russian or a competent guide in order to travel outside of Voronezh.

Voronezh Airport ( VOZ   IATA ) is served by flights from Moscow , Saint Petersburg , Munich , Prague , and Yerevan . Voronezh, being the major rail hub between Central and Southern Russia , is also easily accessible by train from, Moscow , Rostov-on-Don and other major cities in these regions.

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