Making sure the legs of the car wash are level.

Tuesday is our first full day of building, and we always we get a significant amount of work done on our projects, and simultaneously realize the depth and breadth of the work to come! We begin to get into our groove and build momentum for the rest of the week.

Today was precisely that. We dove into projects immediately, hunkering down for a design session that set the tone for a fun and productive build time.

A moment of joy in the brainstorming session

Our tinkerers this week have created a collaborative environment, working together in the design sessions to create a game plan that includes each team member. This becomes clear as most tasks necessitate more than one tinkerer to complete, and in looking around the workshop one sees many helping hands.

Each distinct car-making team has been very creative in their designs, and the cars look incredibly different. We have one roof-less rectangular car that will be elevated a few feet off the ground. They are utilizing a T-steering method. Another team is working on a triangular car, reminiscent of a NASCAR racecar or Star Wars pod-racer. A third team envisions a low rectangular car with a convertible roof, and a handle/lever based steering system. The final challenge for each group will be to add breaks, to ensure the safety of their riders when these cars are tested on our giant ramp!

Speaking of giant ramp… our elevator & ramp team were hard at work today, getting much of their preliminary structural work done and learning how to add important support beams for the weight that they will be holding. Those working on the elevator began to envision how it will be lifted by the pulley system that we already have hanging from the ceiling here, and worked to install rope on each corner of their platform.

Our car wash team spent the day perfecting the design of their structure, figuring out how the cars will physically move through the space they are creating. They plan to work on the specifics of what happens within the car wash once the overall structure is built, and are taking it one step at a time.

After an exciting and exhausting day of thinking and building, everyone was ready to go home and get a good night’s rest to prepare for tomorrow’s endeavors!

To view the rest of today’s photos, check out our Flickr page.

Cartopia - Day 2 - Week 6 (SF Day Camp)