Amusement Park Engineer - Bucking Bull
Students become amusement park engineers as they design and build their own Bucking Bull ride. Along the way, they will explore the fundamentals of mechanical motion and motor control, discovering how gears, linkages, and a DC motor work together to bring their creation to life.
Mechanical DesignGearsLinkagesAges 8+
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Curriculum
Surprise! You've just been hired as an engineer at EBK Amusement Park! There's just one problem—there aren't any rides yet. In this hands-on workshop, students will design, build, and code the park's very first attraction: The Bucking Bull. Along the way, they'll discover how gears, linkages, and DC motors work together to create exciting mechanical movement while developing practical engineering and programming skills.
Subject Content
- Electromagnetism & DC Motor Fundamentals
- Power Management & Motor Driver Architecture
- Mechanical Torque Transmission (Shafts & Keys)
- Gear Dynamics & Ratio Engineering
- Linkage Mechanisms (Crank-Rocker Systems)
Course Outcomes
- Learn how magnetic fields, rotors, copper coils, commutators, and brushes interact to convert direct current into rotational motion.
- Investigate how magnetic domains and current direction dictate electromagnetic poles and polarity reversal.
- Understand how rotating shafts, keys, and keyways lock together to transmit torque across mechanical assemblies without slipping.
- Calculate gear ratios and evaluate torque vs. speed trade-offs across different gear geometries (Spur, Helical, and Herringbone).
- Learn how four-bar linkages (Crank-Rocker mechanisms) convert continuous 360° rotational force into controlled, oscillating bucking motion.