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Floorless-Engineering


Mousetrap Racing

Valued client of Floorless-Engineering

We would like to thank you for the privilege to assist you in promoting your new mousetrap plus

engine, by designing the small scale model of the mousetrap vehicle.

Always striving to provide superior service in a very competitive environment, we at Floorless-

Engineering is pleased to provide you with this design which we are confident will push

mousetrap racecars to a whole new level.

In this document you will find our proposed design for your scrutiny. Drawings, construction

instructions, tender evaluation criteria, disposal plan and certification statement from our

experienced engineers are included herein.

Kind regards from our design team:

Thomas Nuttman (Secretary)

Kadin Hall

Tony Le

Kar-Wei (Jason) Lip

Terence Pui Neng Tung

Sincerely yours

Phillip Niemand

CEO of Floorless Engineering



Contents

Cover Letter 1

Certification Statement 3

Design 4

Materials needed 7

Method 7

Tender Evaluation 11

Disposal Plan 15



Certification Statement

Mousetrap car designed by Floorless-Engineering

We as company members of Floorless-Engineering here by certify that the design contained in

this document, if build according to the specifications provided, will meet the needs of the client,

Mousetrap Racing. These needs include:

Travelling more than 1200mm in a straight line over the bridge

Doing it as fast as fast as possible

With the least amount of production time

At the lowest possible cost

We also certify that disposal of the car using the disposal plan will have will have little or no

effect on the environment.

Floorless-Engineering Project engineers:

Phillip Niemand (C.E.O) _________________________________________

Thomas Nuttman (Secretary _________________________________________

Kadin Hall _________________________________________

Tony Le _________________________________________

Kar-Wei (Jason) Lip _________________________________________

Terence Pui Tung Neng _________________________________________



Design

Design Drawings

Figure 1

Figure 2



Figure 3



List of materials needed

4 x Standard (10mm x 2mm x 115mm) popsicle sticks

6 x Standard (250mm Ø = 4mm) wooden skewers

2 x Standard (120mm diameter) CD‟s

2 x Mini disks(60mm diameter)

1 x Cardboard (200mm x 200mm x 5mm thick)

8 x Sheet metal screws (6G × 18mm)

2 x standard drinking straws (5mm diameter)

1 x Electrical insulation tape (11mm wide)

1 x Non-toxic wood glue

1 x Mousetrap (provided)

Tools Needed

Drill

Drill bit (Ø3/32`, Ø5mm)

Screwdriver (To fit screws mentioned above)

Compound-action snips

Pliers

Hack saw

Utility knife (Stanley knife)

Scissors

Method

Cut out three disks with radii 20, 60 and 60mm using the normal cardboard (200mm x

200mm x 5mm thick).

Glue the smaller disk onto one of the larger disks ensuring that their centres align. Then

glue the other large disk to the other side of the smaller disk, again making sure their

centres align, and leave to dry. This forms the gear.

Carefully drill a series of eight holes into the mousetrap, each hole being in the centre

(3.5mm from the top) of the mousetrap. Drill four holes into the longest side of the

mousetrap with lengths 10mm, 30mm, 70mm and 90mm from the end. Do the same for

the other long side of the mousetrap making sure that all holes are drilled slowly to

prevent the mousetrap from splitting.



Slowly and carefully drill three holes into each of the four Popsicle sticks, first hole

24.5mm from the end of the popsicle stick, then drill two holes, 10mm and 30mm

respectively, from the other end of the popsicle stick.

Thread the holes drilled into the sides of the mousetrap with the screws, making sure they

go all the way in. Do the same to the popsicle sticks using the two holes close together

while making sure they don‟t split.

Carefully screw all four the pre-drilled popsicle sticks into the holes of the mousetrap.

Cut a piece of straw 56mm long and push it through the two axle holes on the front

popsicle sticks so that it has the same amount of protruding straw on each side. The front

of the vehicle is indicated by the place where the mousetrap arm rests when the

mousetrap is not set.

Cut two skewers into lengths 78mm and 150mm, these will make the front and rear axles

Wind the tape around only one end of the longer skewer so that it forms a cylinder of tape

around the end with radius 7.5mm. This tape must be able to fit into the large CD‟s

(Ø60mm) hole and should be wide enough so that the CD‟s are held tightly by the tape.

Wind the tape around the shorter skewer in the same way as the longer skewer, giving the

cylinder of tape a radius of 7.5mm. Once this is done insert the skewer into the straw at

the front of the vehicle and loop the tape around the other end of the skewer the same

way as before.

Place Mini disks on the two cylinders of tape at the front of the vehicle so that they fit

tightly around the tape. Then adjust the Mini disks so that they are in the middle of the

tape and parallel to the front popsicle sticks.

Cut two pieces of straw into equal lengths of 30 mm and push each through the rear axle

holes till the internal edges are 20mm apart.

Tape the four skewers together in a „box‟ formation making the loops closely and evenly

spaced. This will be known as the „boom‟.

Cut the Boom at length 170mm from the flat end using Hack saw.

Cut a groove from the middle of one side of the bottom (box) of the boom to the other

side, not cutting from corner to corner. The groove must be roughly 2-3mm wide so that

it fit tightly onto the pivot arm of the mousetrap.



With the mousetrap spring relaxed (the mousetrap not set), bend the triangular section of

the mousetrap arm so that it is pointing upwards (90 to its original position). This will

form the cradle for the boom.

Cut a piece of string with length 150mm

Drill a hole into the boom using the Ø3/32 drill bit and insert the 150mm string halfway

into it.

Fit the boom‟s grove side onto the bottom of the pivot arm of the mousetrap and tape the

boom to the arm where it rests in the cradle.

Loop the string around the bottom of the arm and then loop it round the taped part of the

boom resting in the cradle and tie it off tigh.

Drill an Ø3/32 inch hole through the centre of the gear.

Insert the rear axle (150mm skewer) into the one of the straws going thru the rear

popsicle sticks, then put the end into the hole in the gear.

Slide the axle through the gear and through the straw on other side of mousetrap till the

gear is about 20 mm from the centre of the skewer.

Apply glue on the centre of the axle so that the glue will slide in between the gear and

skewer. Make sure gear is in centre of skewer.

Wind Electrical insulation tape around the remaining end of the skewer same as for the

previous wheel (Ø=15mm).

Take the larger CD‟s and with the Compound-action snips cut 10mm deep from the edge

approximately every 10mm along the circumference.

Bend every second “lip” (piece of plastic between two cuts) with 20 to the vertical,

using the pliers. First lip is bent one way and the third one is bent the opposite way while

the second and fourth is left vertical. This process is then to be repeated around the entire

circumference of the CD.

Carefully insert the tape cylinders on the rear axle into the CD holes and adjust the CD‟s

so that they sit in the middle of the tape and parallel to the rear popsicle sticks.

Cut a piece of string 370mm long



Drill Ø3/32 inch hole through boom furthest away from the mousetrap, about 20mm

away from the end of the boom

Feed 100mm of the string though the hole in the boom away from the mousetrap and tie

around the boom.

Apply wood glue to this knot to prevent loosening.



Tender evaluation Criteria

Objective

Mouse Trap Racing has selected Floorless Engineering for the task of designing and supervising

the construction of a small model car that is exclusively powered by a mousetrap. This tender

evaluation criterion will be the tool used to select the best company from a group vying for the

contract to construct the mousetrap-powered car. The company with the highest scoring tender

according to this evaluation criterion will be recommended to our client, Mouse Trap Racing, for

further steps in this collaborative project.

Tender Evaluation

Overview

All tenders will be marked according to seven criteria. Submitted tenders should strive to satisfy

each criterion and thoroughly detail how they would meet each. Tenders should be concise and

neat, with all information laid out with explicit detail.

Scoring

Tenders received by us will be evaluated against all criteria. If a tender has left out a section

dealing with a specific criterion, they will receive zero marks for that section and we may take

note of this for future references.

Some criteria are worth more (more weighty) than others because they are deemed to be more

important to the task. The weight is multiplied with the score received for each criterion, ranging

from zero to five to get their final marks. For example if a team received a score of three on a

criterion with a weight of two, their final marks are six out of a possible ten.

The company with the highest total of marks will be recommended to Mouse Trap Racing to

further the project.



Scoring Matrix

Criterion Weight

Score Final

Mark 0 1 3 5

1) Low Manufacturing

Costs

2.5 /12.5

2)

Construction

Techniques and

Experience

2 /10

3) Meeting Deadlines 1.5 /7.5

4) Neat and Concise

Tender 1 /5

5) Production Speed 1.5 /7.5

6) Following Design

Requirements 2.5 /12.5

7) Team Communication 2 /10

Total /65



Criterion Explanation

1) Low Manufacturing Costs

The design and construction of this model car will have to be cost efficient because the purpose

of this project is to create mousetrap car that will be mass produced, and a low monetary cost

will go a long way in reducing costs and ultimately increase profits. This criterion will be the

hardest to fulfill due to our designs already being cost efficient. Contractors who can find a way

to further decrease costs through cheaper materials (while keeping quality up a reasonable level)

or finding unnecessary parts will show dedication and creativity in working on the car.

2) Construction Techniques and Experience

Building a mousetrap car will take a high amount of skill, as contractors will be working on a

small scale. Engineers who have worked on such a scale like model planes or vehicles will have

invaluable experience that can be put to the construction. Detailing prior experience will be

advantageous in the evaluation.

3) Meeting Deadlines

When Floorless Engineering sets a deadline, the contractor is expected to meet it. It is preferable

that required tasks be completed well before the due date so further improvements could be made

with the blessing of the designers. Teams will need to explain how they will meet deadlines in

the face of busy lifestyles.

4) Neat and Concise Tender

Submitting a clean and clear tender will look favorable in the evaluation. Being able to clearly

set out information shows initiative and organization and is a good first impression for interested

parties.

5) Production Speed

Contractors need to work fast as there is a reasonable amount of downtime in the construction of

the model. A speedy completion of the task will allow more time for improvements and/or

adjustments if allowed by the supervisors. Expressing dedication to the completion of tasks well



before deadlines as well as the organization of different phases in construction. Groups that can

set their own deadlines on top of ours are recommended.

6) Following Design Requirements

The model car will need to be built within specifications to both the client (Mouse Trap Racing)

and Floorless Engineering‟s designs. While the client‟s specifications are absolute, Floorless

Engineering will allow some leeway into design choices. Setting out changes (or no changes if

contractors so wish) and justifying these changes will be rewarded with a favourable evaluation.

7) Team Communication

The key to a good team is good communication, and contractors are expected to possess good

communication skills. Without good communication, a team is bound to fail as individuals

cannot present ideas and problems to the other team members and the supervisors and problems

will remain to be rectified.

Final Marks

Contractor Marks Attained Final

Marks 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)



Disposal plan

As a disposal plan our company first had to investigate the properties of all the material used to

construct our design. The following materials were used:

4 x Standard (10mm x 2mm x 115mm) popsicle sticks 6 x Standard (250mm Ø = 4mm) wooden skewers

2 x Standard (120mm diameter) CD‟s

2 x Mini disks(60mm diameter)

1 x Cardboard (200mm x 200mm x 5mm thick)

8 x Sheet metal screws (6G × 18mm)

2 x standard drinking straws (5mm diameter)

1 x Electrical insulation tape (11mm wide)

1 x Non-toxic wood glue

1 x Mousetrap (provided)

The four popsicle sticks and skewers consists of wood, while the cardboard is a product of wood

making it biodegradable and there for will be disposed of in a normal bin (green). The mini

disks, CD‟s, straws and electrical insulation tape are all plastics of different types, and will there

for be discarded in a recycle bin since they all can be recycled or reused by contractors or

designers. The same goes for the metal screws.

The unused materials can also either be used by the contractors or the designers. If neither the

contractors nor the designers want the materials then it will be discarded into the appropriate

bins.

The Mousetrap will not be altered in such a way that it cannot be used for its original purpose

and because of that it will either be taken by one of the contractors/designers or it will be

discarded in a recycle bin together with the mini disks.

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