Spring Resistance Science Fair Projects Using RC Cars

RC Car Science Fair Projects

If you are interested in remote controlled cars and toys then develop a science fair project around them. In these science fair projects you can examine how the RC unit works, how the mechanics of the vehicles impact their performance or how people respond to the challenges of controlling the vehicles remotely. There are countless experiments that you can run.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of spring resistance on the speed of a RC cars on various race courses.

I became interested in this idea because for the past two years I have had a strong interest in cars and wondered what resistance of springs made the car go fastest through turns.

The information gained from this experiment could help racers, and people who use 4 wheel drive recreational vehicles to know what springs to buy to go fastest.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that the springs with the most resistance would create the fastest times on all three courses.

I based my hypothesis on a statement by Michael Seal, the leader of the Technological Institute at Western Washington University, who said that softer springs create loss of cornering power.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

• The weight of the car
• The turning distance of controller
• The battery power
• The course size
• Road Surface

MATERIALS

PROCEDURES

1. Set up car for circle testing
a.) install first set of springs (least resistance)
b.) Install new batteries
c.) Set car at about one third up the centerline
2. Complete circle testing
a.) Turn steering wheel as far counter-clockwise as possible
b.) Go to full throttle and start the timer
c.) After 3 laps stop the timer
3. Repeat steps 2a-2c going clockwise
4. Adjust controller to maintain consistent slow speed
5. Repeat step 2 at slow speed
6. Repeat steps two through five with all resistances of springs
7. Find speed of car
d.) Run car at full throttle
e.) Go for thirty feet
f.) Divide the speed by thirty
7. Adjust controller to maintain consistent slow speed
8. Complete Speed tests

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of spring resistance on the speed of a remote control car on various racecourses.

The results of the experiment were that the stiffest springs had the fastest time in two of the three categories at full throttle. In the straight speed the stiffest springs lead by about .23 seconds. In the circle to the right the softest springs had a slight edge of .05 seconds over the stiff springs. The circle to right was done fastest by the stiff springs with a time of 13.56, 1 second faster than the soft springs. But overall the softest springs ended up having the fastest time in all three courses.

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the springs with the most resistance would create the fastest times on both courses.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if different tire shapes or materials would affect the turning ability or speed. I also wonder if different chassis weights would affect the turning ability.

If I were to conduct this project again I would have found a better designed car to be as consistent as I could. I also would have done the experiment in the summer so that I could do it outside. In the winter the cold slows down the mechanics in the chassis. I think a slalom test would be far better than any of the tests I was able to conduct with the car available. 3rd party contributor