Rocket Power

thingiverse

This week I've been working with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Bloodhound SSC with balloon powered cars at a Tomorrow's Engineer's event. It inspired me to add "rocket", or rather, Balloon Power to the ThinkFun kit. It's simply the small connector with an added pipe - getting to know the sizes of ThinkFun parts I'm probably going to revise this to give ground clearance if medium wheel are attached directly. The shape of the original part doesn't lend itself to "edge" printing, you'll see a defect in the print - that's a simple tweak in the update (to follow). The Balloon can be inflated by blowing through the pipe, nipping the neck of the balloon between puffs. If you're mounting this inside a box chassis you can use the pipe extension to get your "jet" nozzle outside the box. Update #1 - New pictures, reduced nozzle to give ground clearance with Medium Wheels - STLs to follow, minor tweak required to remove model glitch. Still thinking about balloon to nozzle transition too. Update #2 - New Files and Picture. Slight hiccup on print lifting/deformation but otherwise good. Still thinking and Balloon Car assembly to follow. Update #3 - Mk2 extension removed pending update to resolve wall thickness. Note original extension is NOT compatible with Mk2 Pipe. Still playing with boxes, wheels MUST be free running if you're going to get the best out of the thrust available. Larger bore of the original is better in this instance but doubling up Balloons (one inside the other) can help force the air out for greater thrust too ;) Update #4 - simple test: https://vimeo.com/145046225 Print Settings Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Doesn't Matter Resolution: 0.2 Infill: 15% Notes: Printed with the balloon rim pointing to the bed.