suggestion needed

[vener]

I am currently 14 ,15 next year.There is a science inovation contest which I wanted to enter.No theme or subject.You can invent/improve somthing.They will give $80 to every contestant for starting thier projects.This years 2nd place was won by a foil covered cupboard bowl for solar cooking.=.=".Any suggestion for my project?

Note:I am only qualify to enter next year(2006).

I can do soldering and basic Diy

[victor hull]

I don't know if this will help you but. When I was about your age I played around with CO2 cartridge powered balsa cars. This is how it works.

The car is about 6" to 8" long. The cartridge is attached to the back of the car and 2 wire loops are attached on the bottom. The wire loops guide the car along a wire about 60 ft long. The idea is the timed speed at that distance. There was a puncture device to release the prssure in the cartridge to start the car. Now, to improve speed all the normal things were done such as streamlining, lightning, wheel freedom, etc.
I intered contests with a venturi attached to the end of the cartridge which increased the flow out, thus more power for a given normal pressure release. I have to say this. I was the fastest out of the gate but I ran out of gas half way down the wire. Never won. But the idea was how to increase speed with a venturi effect. This may not be for you. The co2 cartridge contains about 900 lb per sq in of pressure. Any attempt to use these should be supervised by a adult. Vj

Ps. I could have won if they made the wire shorter. Think I should cry foul. Do they even make these cartridges any more ?

[coaxial-gyro]

Buzz-wire game plus,via Robot arm . ( my current project )

[cornbinder]

funny that you have brought that up victor was thinking about a giant powered aircraft powered by a bottle of propane.mike

[yorbenator]

how bout an h2 bomb using ectrolises?

have a bottle of water(about half full) put 2 carbon rods in the bottom(submerged) one hooked up to the negative pole of a 9 volt battery, and the other to the positive of the battery

this will create little bubbles of h2 and 02 as it separates the water. when you have a decent amount of h2/o2 in the top you ignite it(using sumthn that creates a spark inside the bottle)

i recon you use a remote ignitor, so u can keep atleast 8 meters distance.

the explosion should be quite mild, but i still recomend lot of caution and that you discuss it with you parents/ science fair people before you start building it. and that there are adults present when you ignite it(use only outside in an open space)

and i know that you might think your responsible enough that you dont need the supervision of you parents, because your 14, and this might be the case..but i still recommend that u get them involved<-note: this is comming from a 14 year old

[Ercoupe Ed]

Hey there Vener,
You know there is quite a bit of interest in the forthcoming Space Tourism
program, which has shown a lot of promise since Burt Rutan put his Space ship One into space in 2004.
Now there are several larger spaceships capable of carrying 9 people into space.
Perhaps you could do a project based on this concept.
Whatever you do, good luck!!

Blue skies!
Ed

[rhokita]

Here's something crazy, How about a personal cooler? What I mean basically a hat with directable water 'misters' around the brim of the hat, The misters can be directed down around body and along the head. It would keep a person cool duirng summer hikes.
I have a 'mister' now and it works pretty good, but it's on a single nozzle that clips onto a strap. However there are times when I wish I didn;t have to hold the nozzle while I'm walking, especially when I'm hiking up a hill with gliders in both of my hands.
Anyway, this is just another idea to spring off of.

[mattsimonton]

I know of a guy that made a hovercraft out of a bath tub curtain, weed eater engine and a couple scraps of wood (ply) you could make a rc ducted fan version( I have done this ) ot of meat trays and micro rc gear. add some cameras or something and make it an all terrain spy craft. It also is cool to chase the cat with as it sounds like a hyped up hairdryer.
matt

[MJER]

Test to see if this works...

[foamnpacktape]

Does anyone else think its odd a guy goes to RC Groups for project suggestions, and only 1/7 is RC related? Good projects, just strikes me as curious.

How about Radio controlled robot, car, boat, helli, airplane, or, as mentioned above, a hovercraft. You display and explain: Electronics, mechanics, design, physics, mathmatics, and even history if you go scale.

foam

[Aten W Arthog]

I have an RC-related invention idea for you. I started on this one time and abandoned it. A radio controlled flagpole climber, designed to thread a new rope into the top of a flagpole without risking a human life. You could add a wireless video link to it using the wireless cams at Walmart's electronics dept. so you can see what you're doing while safe on the ground.
Your robot will need a high-torque motor to drive a sticky rubber wheel or wheels against the pole (which tapers as it gets higher) to elevate it, then you'll need a servo-driven arm or needle or probe to feed new rope thru the pulley at the top of the pole.

My project started from a real life need. The rope frayed and fell off the flagpole high on our state capitol building one time. Hundreds of feet in the air. Nobody wanted to hire a helicopter to dangle a man down to re-thread the pulley, too expensive and dangerous to lives and the building, in the high winds up there. Our plan was a simple motorized chassis to drive up the pole, guided by binoculars, and then a servo- driven "arm" to thread a small guide rope thru the sheave, then we'd use that to pull a heavier replacement rope up there.

We were halfway thru development when they solved the problem another way: some guy with more guts than sense climbed way up on the dome without safety gear and used a long fishpole to do it.

Still, this is a project with a lot of fun challenges in it, that uses lots of RC tech. Might make for a good multi-school challenge because every school has a flagpole on campus *somewhere*.

[foamnpacktape]

Warthog,

I really like your suggestion. Your pole climbing robot could even be modified to strip tree branches, and cut down trees systematically.
I recently took down a 100' pine tree next to my parents house, and I could envision your robot idea doing it much safer. However, I kind of enjoyed the project, nothing like tying off 90' from the ground, swaying with the wind, and wielding a chainsaw. :eek:
The robot would not have to rc, it could be hard wired, which would be necessary for the power to the saws.
I might suggest this for my children's next science fair. Thanks for the idea. :)

Regards,
foam.

PS: Like your username, took me a bit to get it.