The+Killer+Caterpillars

Team Members: (ALEX, ANNA, JACK, OLIVIA)



MARCH 30TH: today we decided to take the wings off of our butterfly. we also glued on a piece of wood to the back of out chassis. our cart is about 42 centimeters long. we are preparing to attach our second set of wheels. we plan on attaching them with beads at the bottom of our chassis so that out car is at more of a slant.

APRIL 1ST: Today we started off the class by working on the rear axle. I asked Jack what he was doing and he responded with, "I'm gluing the beads on." (basically he's putting some beads on the sides of the one bead attached to the chassis so that the back axle won't slide back and forth.) Now Olivia is doing the same thing on the front wheel of the car so that it won't slide either. We've just finished gluing the rear wheels to the axle so they'll be more sturdy. ~ALex APRIL 2ND: Today when we opened the box containing our materials, the back axle had broken off! dang. anyways we're gluing it back on now, and HOPEFULLY it won't fall of again! (Just realized that Jack isn't here.) Now Tommy's giving us advice about keeping the glue out of the beads so the axle will spin more easily. We're kinda having trouble uploading pictures from the camera to iPhoto...Now Anna burned her arm with how glue... Anna and Olivia finished gluing our platform thing onto our chassis, and are now designing a place to put our motor on so it will spin the gear. (finally...) and now it is time to clean up. Perfect timing... ~ALex

APRIL 13TH: We had to re-glue the wheels so that they were farther apart.. Oh dear, Burned! Olivia what a sad story. You know it did not have to happen like this. (sob sob) She was such a good kid. Participating in extra curricular activities and always do well in school. Now her arm will be scarred for life. "It is sticky" said Olivia referring to the motor. "Yes" said Alex. "The hot glue gun is smoking!" said Anna. "Turn it off!". "Anna do not take as video it is useless. The killer butterfly is useless!" said Alex. We are trying to put the motor on but we are having problems with the gears. We had to move the piece of wood that holds the motor down. We fixed the problem and now our car runs! By Anna Webster

APRIL 15th: We got the car to roll, but it pulls to the left a lot. Therefore we took off the rear axle and are trying to find a new one that is not crooked. We also had a clever idea to put the battery pack on the bottom of the car. Now we found a new, straight axle that is kind of bendy, and will soon be cut into the proper size we need for the axle. By Jack Stefan

April 16th: Today we are lining up our new axle and moving around some things so that out car will not turn to the left while driving. The things we have to change: the axle, the beads on the axle, re-positioning the piece of wood that holds the motor, and making sure the wheels are not at an angle. Fitting the axle correctly is a little harder than we anticipated, but we got it to work. Now we hope for the best! Time to glue the wheels! We tested our wheels out and they run very smooth. WE ARE NOW THE KILLER CATERPILLARS!!!! We are attaching the batteries with Velcro and securing the wires with a rubber band and ductape. Many burnings of fingers from the hot glue gun. We did a test run and our car goes super fast, but it still turns to the left. We are going to try our luck next time with moving the front wheel and axis. Maybe then our car will run straight. By Olivia Keck

April 20th: We got our solar panels! also the tip of our car fell off so we have to re-glue it. the hook got glued onto the bottom of our car. Anna has discovered that we need another bead. ow she got burnt again, this is pitiful... she wont stop singing cotton eyed jowwrthjkl;lkjhgfdsdfgh,.,jhgfdsdfghm,mgfdfghm,..,jhgf-- solar car typing. kjhgfdghjklkjhgfdsdfghjk/.lkjhgferghjkl;'--more solar car typing. Alex and jack are working on god knows what while i teach anna how to turn our car on and off. Anna knows the cotton eye joe dance. anna is wearing an outfit that doesnt match with her bracelet... and everything else. lkjhgfghjkl;lkjtrdsdrftg--solar car typing. Today was all about touch-ups on our electric vehicle. By Olivia Keck

April 22nd: Today Jack and I are finishing up the final touches of our front axle which was messed up. After some precise measurements and some final gluing, we try rolling the car on the ground... and it still turns left. Darn. Olivia and Anna are working on the Solar pannel stuff by making reflector thingies to reflect more light onto the pannel. Pure genius. Jack is now gluing down the front axle for the third time, hopefully this time it will work! Yay! success! Now we're trying it out in the Quaker Dome. Ok, guess what... IT STILL TURNED LEFT! ANNA HAS SUCH BAD LUCK WITH HOT GLUE GUNS BAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!! By Anna W

April 27th: Focusing mostly on getting our solar panels perfectly set up today. It's going to look so cool! update on our car... [show pics] we plan to have our solar panels facing the sun at all times so we are making the moveable. we tested our car and STILL it turns LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!! someday it will work out.... tommy, a teacher, burnt anna, a student, with the hot glue gun! ouch. Anna is doing really good with our solar panels, SUCCESS! Jack and Alex are working on making sure the car goes in a straight line.... fail. Alex explains to anna how to get the solar charging station's rotator to stay in a selected spot using rubber bands and hooks. Anna says her fingers are immune to hot glue. Anna says glue is expensive. Meila brought Anna another glue stick, she also glued our box... then burnt herself. Our car still doesn't go straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anna is emo... no wait she is goth. We are looking for hooks. We gave up our search.

April 29th: Today we're mainly working on fixing or car, which is still turning to either the left or right after the ?th time fixing it.., and our solar charger thingy. Anna and Olivia are making a system on the charger to keep the panel angled to the sun. Yaaay! the car finally goes straight!! (at least for the time being...) ~ALex

May 4th: Today we're finally finishing the final touches on our car! Jack is shortening the wires from the batteries to the motor so there aren't wires wrapped around the body of our car. Anna and Olivia are working on the folder thingy and drawing up our designs for the solar charger (which we've already finished, go figure.) All is going well! I just added a little pole above the solar panel so we can judge where the sun is shining by positioning it so it doesn't have a shadow.