Introduction: Egg Drop Design

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The main goal of an egg drop competition is to make a structure or something simple that could protect an egg from breaking when dropped. In an egg drop competition there are always rules on what design types you can use and what you aren't allowed to use. Some of these rules can include no parachutes and some rules say that your contraption has to weigh a certain mass. Every competition is different though so make sure you go over your rules before making something. The competition I'm participating in doesn't allow parachutes and some other rules. This is a design I came up with that follows my rules and is usually allowed in most competitions.

Materials needed:

-A hot glue gun and glue sticks
-A large and small pair of scissors
-A ruler
-A sharpie or a marker
-Lots of straws
-Duct tape

You may want to start heating up your glue gun now as you will need it soon in a few steps.

Step 1: Part 1: the Egg Housing Pyramid

Take one of your straws and your ruler and carefully measure 6 centimeters starting from the end of the straw with a marker. It should look like figure 3 and 4 when you're done.

Step 2: Cut

Cut the straw on the line you've marked with a pair of scissors. Repeat step 1 and 2 until you have a total of 6 straws that are each 6 centimeters in length.

Step 3: Making the Center Pyramid

Now that you have cut 6 straws, take 3 of them and make a closed triangle like the one in the pictures above. Once you have done so, take your glue gun that you've previously heat up and glue the triangle together one corner at a time. While gluing your triangle be careful not to move the shape to much. If you do move the triangle move it back while the glue is still soft.

Step 4: Completing the Pyramid

After you've finished gluing the base you should have something that looks like this. To start the top of the pyramid, take the rest of your straws from before and glue them one at a time to each corner like the one I did in figure 2. Look down from the top of the pyramid to see if the straw meets in the middle (Figure 3). The red dot marks the center. Repeat this for the rest of the corners.

Step 5: The Finished Pyramid

Once you completed your housing and it looks like the one above, your halfway from completing your contraption. Try test fitting an egg in it to make sure it fits. Go back and make any changes if necessary.

Step 6: Part 2: Outer Housing

Take a straw and cut the bendy ends off of them with a pair of scissors. Repeat this until you have 4 straws without the ends.

Step 7: Housing Beams

Next, glue the straws that have been trimmed in the last step vertically to the tips of the pyramid. Repeat this step for all sides until it looks like the one in figure 2.

Step 8:

Glue a straw to the end of beam like in image 1. Then join it with another straw and repeat it for the top half until you end up with something like this.

Step 9:

Make a tripod with 6 cm straws like in image 1. Glue it on the bottom of the housing pyramid and you should have something like in the last image.

Step 10: Finished!

Then repeat the pattern you did in step 8 and your contraption is ready to be dropped! If you have any, please leave any questions or comments down below about this instructable.

Step 11: An Update

Hey Instructables,
it's occurred to me and other people that this design may have some flaws such as very little protection on the sides that are flatter. One way you can fix this issue is by following the pattern above in image 2 and 3. Basically, it's just 2 straws joined together then glued onto the flatter side to give it protection. Then you want to add a supporting beam and glue it like the one in image 4. Then you should be all done. If you want, you can make it more rigid then add some more outer supports. Watch out for a version 2 egg drop design coming in late June!

Egg Contest 2016

Participated in the
Egg Contest 2016