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Home Herff College of Engineering News & Events Pasta Car

Pasta Car

 

By University of Memphis American Society of Mechanical Engineers chapter with support from University of Memphis Society of Automotive Engineers and University of Memphis American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers

 

The competition is designed to test the ingenuity of the team to design an ‘artificial leg’ to kick a standard ping-pong ball into a target.

Rules:

  1. You can work as an individual or as a team.
  2. Each individual or team can submit a maximum of one vehicle.
  3. The car will be judged based on the vehicle’s completeness and ability to roll. In the case of there being multiple vehicles, a race between the vehicles will be conducted using a cardboard ramp, and the fastest vehicle will win. A vehicle may be expected to race multiple times, so it should be sturdy. The vehicle will rest against the “gate”, which will be lifted off the track to start the race, so consider that in your design of its front.
  4. Vehicles submitted must be capable of standing by themselves and rolling based on only their potential energy due to gravity. Extra points will be given to vehicles that have functions beyond just rolling (e.g., working doors or trunk).

Vehicle Specs :

  1. Teams must have vehicle prepared beforehand and submitted 1 hour before event begins.
  2. The vehicle must be modeled after a real-world vehicle that normally contains a motor or engine and is designed to carry passengers. The vehicle can be any man-made vehicle
  3. Vehicles with wheels must have at least two wheels.
  4. For high school division the vehicle’s dimensions must be between 2 to 6 inches in width, 3 to 6 inches in height, and 4 to 12 inches in length.
  5. For middle school division the vehicle’s dimensions must be between 2 to 6 inches in width, 3 to 6 inches in height, and 4 to 12 inches in length. However this vehicle does not need to resemble a real life vehicle but does need to be functional.
  6. The vehicle may only be constructed using dry pasta and glue (any type of pasta or glue is acceptable). Teams can cut the pasta or soften/bend it as needed or desired.
  7. Teams may draw on their vehicles as desired, but the drawings or words cannot be offensive or inappropriate.

 Ranking and Points:

  1. There will be two divisions for middle school and high school which will be scored separately
  2. The two divisions may race together but will be scored separately.

 

Detailed Breakdown of Ranking and Points:

High School

 

Is the vehicle complete?

Fully finished – 3 points
Missing some minor components – 2 points
Missing major components but recognizable – 1 point Missing major components and unrecognizable – 0 points

Can the vehicle roll freely?
 
Vehicle rolls by itself after being pushed – 3 points
Vehicle can roll if pushed continuously – 2 points
Wheels can spin but the vehicle doesn’t roll – 1 point
Wheels are stuck, vehicle doesn’t roll – 0 points
Vehicle breaks – minus 2 points
 

 

Middle School

 

Is the vehicle complete?

Fully finished – 4 points
Missing some minor components – 3 points
Missing major components but recognizable – 2 point Missing major components and unrecognizable – 1 points

Can the vehicle roll freely?
 
Vehicle rolls by itself after being pushed – 4 points
Vehicle can roll if pushed continuously – 3 points
Wheels can spin but the vehicle doesn’t roll – 2 point
Wheels are stuck, vehicle doesn’t roll – 1 points

 

Both Divisions

 

Vehicle wins the race? Yes – 10 points

Vehicle has other working components, similar to its real- life counterpart?

Yes – 1 extra point per unique functioning component

 

 

Event coordinators running the race reserve the right to disqualify any team if deemed appropriate.

If you have and questions, please reach out to dtbraese@memphis.edu

 

David Braese,

ASME Engineering Council Representative, SAE Design Group Leader, and ASHRAE Eday coordinator