They are a trio who put their minds and hours of free time toward making a lump of custom-designed plastic move at close to 200kph.
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Or at least that’s how Year 11 St Francis Xavier College students Guiseppe Rover, and twin brothers Jack and Matthew Williams put it speaking about their 3D printed rocket car project.
“Making it go super fast was the appeal,” Guiseppe said.
“But it was also a way to test the skills we have been learning. In physics we’ve been looking at projectile motion so they were some of the techniques we used when making the car.”
Science and Math teacher Graham Stock mentored the students through the project, offering tips on everything from 3D printing to safe testing.
But he never suspected the boys would name the car “the Stocktopus” in his honour.
The three, who all study chemistry and physics, adopted specialised roles.
Guiseppe modeled the design on CAD and the twins, who both study engineering via ANU, provided input on its structure while documenting the development process on film.
Jack Williams said it had been a long and winding road mastering the necessary technology to create the design, testing prototypes and adapting each iteration to enhance its speed and stability.
The bright red car is powered by a D-class model rocket motor powerful enough to send a plastic cone rocket 1000 feet in the air.
The student’s initial prototype hit a speed of 75kph but after incorporating a fin to steady the car and making the bonnet more aerodynamic by turning it from concave to convex, the car clocked up 183.2kph last test.
“The first time we were trying to fit the dimensions into the 3D printer bed,” Jack said. “Mr Stock figured out a way for us to double the size of the car and make sure the safety line could work through the two pieces we stuck together with acetone.”
The trio rigged a set up to test the rocket car’s max speed on Wednesday August 31st but due to wet winter weather has postpone the car’s whole-school unveiling until Term 4.
“We are pretty confident it might break 200kph,” Matthew said.
Mr Stock said the problem-solving aspect of the project tapped into the student’s ingenuity while giving them a taste of what engineering and science outside the Australian curriculum.
"They also learn about resilience and failure. There’s an old saying NASA use all the time: there is no such thing as a failed rocket there’s either a successful launch or a launch that is rich in learning opportunities. So we took that philosophy here."
