Custom Coaster Car Challenge (aka - Project Coaster)

Last year I spent a ridiculous number of hours staying after school to play with Toys. My inspiration for building this coaster comes from my extreme distaste for traditional grade 9 technology projects. (mouse trap car, popsicle stick bridges, etc.)

I'm 7 years into teaching and I'm constantly trying to come up with new ideas for fun and interesting projects, and ways to make my existing projects even better.

So.... I knew I wanted to make a coaster that kids could test their own custom cars on. I had 3 or 4 different K'nex coaster sets that I'd been collecting from thrift stores and garage sales. I just needed a place to put the thing. I've seen some crazy K'nex builds that take up entire basements and back yards. Unfortunately I do not have the space at school to set up something like this, and if you leave something out in a school environment, someone is likely to trip over it and break it. 

The solution is simple.....

Build the coaster on the wall. It's so simple that I don't even need to write pages of instructions for you. Besides, I was not a member of instructables when I built this project, so I don't have any detailed pictures of the assembly.

Here's what you need to know:

1. You need to find an appropriate wall space.
2. You need to decide on a size. Mine is 12 feet tall by 8' wide.
3. I built two 2x4 frames that were 12' x 4' and covered them with peg board.
4. Try to find peg board with 1/4" holes in it.
5. Buy a box of 1/4"-20 carriage bolts. I bought 6" long bolts which worked great. You may need some shorter and some longer, depending on your design. Oh..... get nuts and washers as well.....lots of them.
6. Find some sort of bracket to use for mounting the boosters and to support your large loops.
7. 3 heavy duty hinges and some casters will let you swing your k'nex wall out so that it's easy to install components and make changes. Make sure that you screw into to studs, or use anchors if you're screwing into a block wall.
8. Right now my boosters run on batteries, but it will be so much more convenient when I hook them all up to adapters and a power bar, so that I can turn them all on simultaneously without climbing up a ladder.
9. The hardest part is actually building and designing the track layout. It takes time, and a lot of trial and error. I treated the peg board as a blank canvas. I started at the top, and worked my way down. When I got to the bottom, I had to figure out the best way to use my boosters to get back to the top again. It's really important to get large brackets so that you can overlap sections of the track.

I've attached the PDF file for PROJECT COASTER as I call it on the last page of this instructable. It includes a complete project outline, a rules sheet, a materials sheet, and expense tracking sheet, and an exemplar of one of the research components of the project. I've included so many components for the project because it provides a true differentiated assignment that gives students individual choice. I've used this project with three classes so far, and I'm constantly tweaking the rules and the outline, but overall it has been a huge success.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. By utilizing the design process, students will test and evaluate the success of their designs.
2. By carefully planning and budgeting materials, students will simulate real life design scenarios.
3. By researching many different aspects of roller coaster design, students will move past surface level understanding of concepts, and learn to be more curious about how things work. 

There are many additional aspects to this project. While it's great for learning the design process, I also find it's a great vehicle for teaching computer skills, such a graphic design, and literacy skills through research and report writing. Another great aspect of this project is the trip to Canada's Wonderland, where we ask students to not only ride the coasters, but to take a closer look at the design of each one. Last year, we were lucky enough to see a ride in testing. It was conveniently filled with plastic dummies, which is the concept we use for this project. 

I also show the students a great video produced by National Geographic, that documents the design and building of Kingda Ka at Six Flags Park,.

 

 

Step 1 Details of the Track

Before I get into the project, here are some detailed pictures of the track. You'll be able to see why it's important to use 1/4"-20 bolts. The holes in the K'nex connector pieces are exactly that size. PERFECT!!

Comments

[dr. richtofen]

Nice built and instructed!
BTW: in the video of the Kingda Ka, does the voice over at about 33 seconds in the video say rocket coaster, or is that just me?

[Mr. Noack]

No, you heard right, however the coaster is not propelled by a rocket :(

[GASSYPOOTS]

yep

[dr. richtofen]

ok

[lukeD]

de youtube vid is gone...