Our project was to build a spaghetti that could withstand a major earthquake that met the success criteria of having a 5×5 platform at the top, taller than 60cm and with a base no larger than 30 x 30 cm. The tower must cost less than 60$ with each spaghetto costing 1 dollar and a gram of blu tack costing 1 dollar as well.
Our engineering process first started with our research by looking into different methods of how buildings protect against earthquakes. We came across many different options; some we could apply to our building, others we couldn’t. We then settled with the cross bracing and using strong shapes to support our building. We then made our first prototype and tested it but realized that the top area of the tower where the platform stood wasn’t as stable as the rest of the tower, so we added extra spaghetti connecting to the tower. This made it so that the top area didn’t shake as much during the test. We didn’t make any other changes to our tower which made it our final design which held steadily against the earthquake.
Our collaboration went smoothly throughout the entire project. During the project, both of us were away on some lessons but we managed to still collaborate through teams and still share the workload. We split the workload evenly where I would do some questions and Katherine would do the others. I did most of the research and Katherine did most of the designing for our tower and we both did an even amount of work for building the tower together.
First prototype
Final design