Calculation-based Engineering Design Applied to a Spring-Powered Mechanism

This lesson is designed for the Gunn HS engineering/robotics class or similar (e.g. a Project Lead the Way capstone course). The lesson demonstrates the use of mathematical simulation in design decisions, specifically designing a launch mechanism based on mechanical springs. The lesson has students using first-order kinetic and potential energy calculations, calculating the transformation of potential energy to kinetic energy, calculating spring constants based on a desired projectile launch, and then testing out their spring design on a simple launch mechanism. Launch objects are assumed to be spheres (balls) and the desired motion restricted to a vertical plane (i.e. launch target locations will have only horizontal and vertical displacement relative to the original position). The lesson assumes that students have completed Algebra 1 and know the definitions of trigonometric functions sine, cosine and tangent; however, no high school physics is assumed.