Challenge Details

Design a model baggage buggy capable of towing three trailers each with a load of 1.5Kg along a 50m track.  The buggy must be battery powered and weigh no more than 5kg.

Qualification

After last year’s win the Design Technology department decided to enter the challenge again.  There was strong interest from Year 9 and three teams from the Young Engineers lunchtime club decided to submit a design portfolio to the organisers.  The students worked very hard on their design submissions and with over five hundred initial entries the competition to be selected to take part in the National Finals was tougher than ever.  Nineteen teams were invited to the finals; of the nineteen two were from Wellingborough School!

At the Finals

The finals were held at Gatwick Airport on Friday 25^th June with a 9:00 start, which meant an early start for our pupils who assembled at Wellingborough School at 6:00am ready for the journey.  The mood was upbeat and there was much talk about race tactics, their displays and the presentations they had prepared for the judges.

Upon arrival there was a rush from both teams to check out the opposition.  With groups travelling from as far as Cumbria it was clear that many of them had put a lot of thought and effort into their designs and the competition was going to be tough.  There were even a couple of designs that had familiar features to last years winning entry!  After studying this year’s task in detail, both Wellingborough School entries featured completely new designs; had we made the right decision?

The Wellingborough teams assembled displays that explained their work.  Both displays were extremely impressive and along with the team shirts they had designed the arrival of Wellingborough School was well and truly announced.

The competition was soon upon us, there were three prizes up for grabs in our age category, ‘Best Presentation’, ‘Team Spirit Prize’ and of course the coveted ‘Best Performing Buggy’.  Both teams performed well in their presentations and in the activities.  The first rounds went relatively smoothly, and both teams qualified for the semi-finals, against each other!  It was head-to-head for Eco-Thrust and The Eco-Wizards of Wellingborough, they had both shown good speed in the first rounds and it was clear it was going to be close.  The starter horn sounded and Eco-Wizards pulled out an early lead, with speed building quickly it was going to be tough for Eco-Thrust.  Unfortunately half-way up the course disaster struck as Eco-Wizards hit the side wall of the track at speed, the buggy snagged, the trailers twisted round and there was baggage everywhere.  Eco-Thrust overtook and ran cleanly to the line, the ‘Wizards’ took chase but never fully recovered from their race incident.  At the finish there was the inevitable mixed emotion in the camp, with one team through to the finals and one team knocked out; but this didn’t last long as all pupils threw their support behind Eco-Thrust for the final, could it really be two years running for Wellingborough School.

The Final Run

There was a problem, during the earlier rounds some of the trailers provided by the race organisers had become snagged in the barrier wall during the earlier runs.  When this happened to Eco-Thrust the torque from its drive system ripped them apart and carried on to the finish line with them!  By the time the final came along the organisers were running out of working trailers.  Eventually a decision was made; the final run was to be an out and out drag race, no tailors, no weight.  Eco-Thrust was up against a lightweight buggy powered by two drill motors, with small wheels at the front and large at the back it looked like a mini Santa Pod racer.  I thought this could be close, but Mr Sandall seemed very confident and was happy with the ‘no trailer’ decision.

Lining up at the start line, final adjustments were made to the position of the buggies.  The starter sounded the horn and they were off, Eco-Thrust took an early lead and shot up the track at an untouchable speed.  It completed the run in 9.3 seconds, over twice as quick as its competitor.  Eco-
Thrust had sealed a second consecutive win for Wellingborough School, earning the title of ‘Best Performing Buggy’ 
                                                   
Mr S Egan