Problem Definition
A team of astronauts need a form of transportation that is able to efficiently cover a minimum round trip distance of 5km from point A to point B. This form of transportation must be able to overcome the 3% Earth gravity of Ceres, below -105°C temperatures, rocky terrain and make the most of its limited power sources.
Establishing Norms
Organizational Norms
Our group didn’t really split this project into roles for each of us to fill, but rather we worked together to tackle each step of the process. I think this worked out pretty well, as it didn’t feel like one person was taking over the whole project. Rather, we generally did the same amount of work, and the workload felt really manageable because of that.
Communication Norms
To communicate with each other outside of school, Tim created an iMessage group chat, which we all used. It was really convenient, as we all used iMessage, and we were able to do all we needed to do with the group chat. Even before we officially started working on the project, we knew we had to make a group chat of some sort, and iMessage just seemed like the most convenient and easy to set up. Although we worked pretty independently, we were able to communicate parts we needed and ask for help pretty clearly and quickly, which aided us in boosting our productivity. An example of us asking for help was with Roy, when we asked him to help us out with CAD, something he’s pretty proficient at.
The Plan
We had a pretty clear cut plan. From the start, we had decided that we were most likely going to make a wheeled vehicle, and that helped us in quickly eliminating ideas, and although a spider vehicle did seem pretty promising, the idea failed due to some parts not being invented yet. However, after we decided on the wheeled vehicle, things went pretty smoothly.
Time Management
Our group was generally able to manage our time well. We set approximate dates/timespans that each step would take, and our project progressed pretty similarly to our estimates. However, toward the end of our project, we ran into a couple issues with the electronics, and with little time left, we were forced to abandon one of our tests. However, we were still able to pivot and redefine what we were looking for in terms of efficiency. If I were to repeat this project, I would choose to save at least a week for when things go wrong or stop working.
What to Do When Things Go Sideways
Our group ran into a couple issues along the way. Some of our 3d models weren’t compatible with each other, and our suspension idea didn’t work out. However, the biggest challenge we faced was when our electronics broke down, forcing us to change our test. Luckily, we had prepared a different test in advanced, which didn’t require any turning, and still allowed us to find the efficiency of our vehicle. Thus, we were able to resume testing, and got all the data we needed.
Final Thoughts
I feel like this project, although tricky at some times, went pretty smoothly and was a really interesting way to tie physics and Fusion together. I liked assembling our vehicle the most, as it felt really satisfying to see all of our prior work come together. My biggest takeaway from this project was the importance of a plan b. If our group didn’t have a backup test planned, we would have had to spend more time figuring out how to test for efficiency, leading to us not being able to complete on time. All in all, I think this project was a pretty good success, and gave me some valuable experience.
AI Transparency
No generative AI was used. All text is human generated.
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