Fall 2024, First Year Engineering Project
In the first year "hopper project" at Olin College of Engineering, students build a jumping contraption inspired by nature and refined it through rapid prototyping. I took inspiration from the Springtrail hopper by creating a tail that is tensioned with an elastic rubber and released with a balloon-timed trigger.
The final prototype met many of my design goals. I enjoy the balloon trigger.
To achieve my final prototype, I went through multiple designs and iterations. Starting with simple concept sketches for various hopper designs, I moved on to building simple 3D sketch models to validate design choices (such as the trigger mechanism concept). While my first full prototype was already capable of a self-triggered jump, additional iterations targeted improved airtime.
I took inspiration from the Springtrail hopper by creating a tail that is tensioned with an elastic rubber and released with a balloon-timed trigger.
To achieve my final prototype, I went through multiple designs and iterations. Starting with simple concept sketches for various hopper designs, I moved on to building simple 3D sketch models to validate design choices.
Documentation of the design process, iterations, and final results.
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