Winch Design Project

The winch design project was a much quicker one in comparison to the Rube Goldberg project but it was really a lot of fun as well. We had just begun our unit on electricity and we were tasked to modify a winch with only a 9 volt battery along with a few other materials and specifications to lift the most weight as possible a distance of 4 feet from the weight's initial position. We utilized pulleys in our design for an extra boost of mechanical advantage as we looped the cable around 4 pulleys (two stationary and two not connected to the system) along with support channels connected to a base board for extra strength and stability. We also added a hook where the weights could attach themselves to for more stability with the lifting process. With this design we found ourselves lifting the second most weight in the class. The only issue we came across which ended our run was the drive shaft not being able to withstand the enormous amount of weight. Overall the competition made the project very enjoyable!