The capstone project for Chad Mester’s engineering class at Clarkston Junior High School is determined by consensus.
This year’s decision: let’s build a tank.
Students usually build scale models. This time, however, they decided to make it lifesize.
‘I said, let’s make it big,? said ninth-grader Brandon Landry.
‘We thought we could make it so Brandon could fit in it, and it evolved from there,? Mester said.
The completed vehicle, armed with a plastic cannon and painted in blue-and-gray urban camouflage, is big enough to seat any of the students.
Controls allow the operator to rotate the turret on marble ball-bearings through 360 degrees. Bicycle pedals attached to a drive chain provide propulsion. A louvre system, like that found on the Army’s Multiply Launch Rocket System vehicle, protects the front view.
Two classes divided into five teams, turret, body, tracks, road wheels and axles, and propulsion. Students worked after school, weekends, and during winter break.
‘The groups had to communicate, so everything would stay proportional and line up,? said Mester, career, technology, and life management teacher.
Assembling the track meant figuring connections, sprocket design, and assembly, said Jake Vernier, ninth grader.
‘The original design was round sprockets, but that didn’t work,? Vernier said.
‘So we sanded off the edges to make them smooth so they would fit in the notches.?
The team made an 11-inch segment, then copied it over and over until they had enough for two complete tracks.
‘Some needed adjustment,? he said. ‘We set up an assembly line.?
The body team had to adjust their design to fit available materials.
‘It looked good on paper, but it was too big for the pieces of plywood that we had,? Landry said. ‘We had to simplify, condense measurements.?
The students used hand saws, nail gun, square rulers, and other tools in its construction.
‘I used the handsaw quite a bit,? said Wes Vaughn, who worked on the drive train, attached to a set of bicycle pedals.
‘We put in about 20 hours on it outside school.?
Work continues on the vehicle. Gearing on the bicycle chain could improve mobility. Now, the driver needs muscles like Lance Armstrong to move it, Mester said.
Last year, students constructed a miniature helicopter, with sliding doors, functional rotor, painted in black and yellow with stylized flames shooting up the side.
During the year, students apply principles by making their own hover craft, magnetic levitation, earthquake detection device, and miniature roller coasters.
‘Students learn more from experience,? Mester said. ‘It’s not about the grades, it’s about the experience.?
The students learn concepts in math and technology, then put them to use.
‘We do something different each year,? Mester said. ‘Next year? Who knows.?