Tech Directions - August 2007 - (Page 18) RC Boats Make Waves! By Jacob Williamson E ACH year, students in Kittanning Senior High School’s Principles of Technology (POT) classes have a design challenge, usually beginning with CO2-powered or Maglev-powered vehicles and progressing to such challenges as soap-box cars or radio-controlled airplanes. My most recent POT class challenged us with the most exciting challenge yet: radio-controlled watercraft. The project sharpens technical skills and knowledge and gives great experience with working cooperatively as part of a team. It incorporates activity involving brainstorming, analytical thinking, and troubleshooting. ancy. Student teams compete to determine which can produce the fastest radio-controlled boat. Preparation As in any technology project, research is a critical first step that may take several weeks to complete. Students need to locate and study extensively many documents about both watercraft and radio controls. Regarding research on the Internet, my team especially valued www.rcairboats.net, which offers extensive information on all aspects of airboats, including categories like Prop Wash, Code of Conduct, Videos, and Blue Prints. We also used en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Buoyancy, projects at www. techdirections.com, www.boating basicsonline.com, and www.ischool. utexas.edu/ ~cochinea/htmlpaper/m-esteva-01polypropylene.html. Materials Students may use any materials available in the power technology room, in addition to any materials they chose to bring from home. All three teams in my class had one material in common: coroplast, a plastic corrugated-cardboard-type of Objective Working in teams, students produce a working radio-controlled watercraft. This assignment reinforces engineering skills, while incorporating work with small engines, aerodynamics, radio controls, and the laws of buoy- Construction Phase Deciding what materials to use in fashioning the hull is a crucial Kittanning students show off their watercraft. decision for each material that readily floats in water. team. The material must be light and Additional materials included balsa easy to work with, but, above all and basswood, residential sheathing else, it must be buoyant. Coroplast, Jacob Williamson was a student in insulation, and brazing rods, in addibass and balsa wood, and home Mike Panchik’s principles of technoltion to a variety of “scrap” pieces insulation were the three major ogy class, Kittanning (PA) Senior High found in the lab. materials that teams in my class School, when he wrote this article. 18 techdirections ◆ AUGUST 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy http://www.techdirections.com http://www.techdirections.com http://www.boatingbasicsonline.com http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~cochinea/html-paper/m-esteva-01-polypropylene.html http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~cochinea/html-paper/m-esteva-01-polypropylene.html
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