Post-Trials Update -- Pictures

The video on the previous post appears not to be working, so here are pictures of our setup:

This is a picture of the car in the wind tunnel. The force sensor is hooked to the front of the car and runs along a pulley at the end of the wooden block, and comes out the bottom of the wind tunnel to attach to the Lab Quest.

This is a photo of the Lab Quest we used to collect data.

This is a picture of the tablet we used to record data. We entered our data into a spreadsheet in a program similar to Excel.

Post-Trials Progress Update

We are finished conducting data trials and have cleaned up and returned all supplies. The above video is of a trial conducted with our largest dimple size. You can only see the car moving backwards (for filming clarity reasons) but it starts with the wind tunnel being turned on and the Lab Quest being started. We will narrate and explain this with supplementary pictures in the presentation so that there is no confusion. Trials went pretty well overall. We got data, but it was extremely varied. It is hard to tell whether or not dimples affect the drag force on a car without proper statistical analysis. We had some issues with the car not pulling back, but we were able to get 30 samples per dimple type to satisfy the CLT. I would say that trials were successful, even if we cannot determine results without formal analysis.

Progress Update

We have finished and submitted our final Experimental Design. We have all the materials we need for trials, but we need to redesign our car. The car will not move in the wind tunnel, so we are going to rework it and try to use less clay. If we can accomplish that, we will be completely set for the start of trials on Monday.

Blog Overview

Problem: How does the dimple size on the outer layer of a car affect the force of drag on that car?

Our project will take a car model and cover it in clay, then cover it in clay. The clay will be dimpled and the car will placed in the wind tunnel and hooked up to a force sensor which will measure the drag force. This will be done for three different dimple sizes and a control car with a smooth surface. We will use an ANOVA and two-sample t tests to analyze the data.

Independent Variable: dimple size (cm)

Dependent Variable: drag force (N)

Response to Cybulski Blog Questions

Pre-Trials went alright. We ended up redesigning our experiment and did not get to run any actual trials. We went from using a clay covered model car to a lab car with a curved foam top. We are done with constructing our new car setup. We will try to get in actual pre-trials this week.

The Review is Literature only needs minor edits. It is overall comprehensive and grammatically correct. The Experimental Design is not, however. It was not specific and needs to be updated and written in such a manner that it is final-paper ready.

Update 10/22/2012

We are coming along with research slowly but smoothly. We are going to get the dimpling tools tonight so that we can make our Exp. Design specific to exactly what we are going to do and also edit our problem statement with specifics to make it proper.