Tuesday Crane - Week 8!
Today our goal was to be able to test the Crane out by the end of the day. To do that we needed to finish our swiveling plan, insert a pulley system between the arm and the hook, and because those things were so small and complex, we decided to make a car to pull our container to it's final destination!
With tired, yet excited brains, we took to the shop!
Kaya and Q install wheels on the kid- powered car.
Chloe and Ayush add a hook for the Container to attach to.
The first step for the swiveling arm today was cutting the platform to fit our tower. Last week we realized we had mis-measured right at the end of class. For fun, we got out the jig saw, so everyone could learn how to use a different tool!
Leo and Eddie test out ideas to keep the swivel base from tipping over.
Once the base could roll around we had to figure out how to keep it from tipping over from it's own weight. A couple designs were tested and the team finally decided on cutting a small circle out of plywood for the arm attachment to fit through, while keeping the wheel base smooshed against the platform....
Meanwhile the pulley team needed to make bigger holes for their spool axle to fit through and also mount pulleys to run a block and tackle system. We were basically at the drill press all afternoon.
Dmitriy got to drill through metal today, in order to install a stop to keep the spool crank from slipping sideways!
Henry created several different iterations of comic relief for us today.
By the end of the day, we had a car, a completed swivel arm, and all the parts for the pulley system. We decided to clean up and do the first test run of the swiveling action with the up and down handle action.
As always we discussed where was a safe place to stand while testing of large heavy objects and swinging hooks is going on and then we got to it!
It worked! We noticed some wiggle room at the swivel base while we were putting the arm on, but the kids didn't have any problems with that movement.
Next week, we'll install the pulley system to help with lifting the weight of a full bucket of water and then see if we can actually move it from one place to another without spilling a single drop!