ENGR 122  --  Freshman Engineering Design Project  --  Spring, 2002

The project for this year is a rope climber.  Teams will be required to design, build, and demonstrate a device to climb a ½ inch diameter rope while carrying a payload of 1 lb.  The rope will be approximately 10 feet long and will be taut at both ends.  Therefore, you will not be able to “thread” your climbing device on the end of the rope.  Teams will compete to determine which device can climb the rope the fastest.  Ties will be settled by increasing the load in ½ lb increments.  In case of a tie, the device that can carry the heaviest load to the top of the rope, regardless of the time required, will win.  The climbing apparatus will be available by the third week of the quarter, so that you may test your prototypes.

We want the project to be as open ended as possible so we are trying not to impose too many constraints.  However, safety is a major concern.  It is your responsibility to insure that your device does not include any unsafe elements.  If you have any concerns regarding this, discuss your ideas with the instructor for your class.  All ENGR 122 instructors will meet regularly to resolve any issues of this nature.  It is a realistic aspect of engineering design that criteria for a project may change as the project progresses.  As we receive questions during the quarter, we reserve the right to modify the design criteria.  If this should happen, we will inform all teams at the next regularly scheduled class meeting.

Specifics design details are as follows:

(1)    The payload will be a plastic zip-lock bag filled with sand.  Your device must carry the payload so that it is not damaged in any way.  Sample payloads will be provided by the instructor, but you must construct your own for test purposes.

(2)    Your device must not damage the testing apparatus in any way.  The rope will be marked 1 ft from the bottom and 1 ft from the top.  The payload must be positioned below the bottom mark prior to starting and it must be positioned above the top mark at the end of the climb. 

(3)    There are no limits on the size of your device, but the total weight is limited to 5 lb.

(4)    The payload must remain at the top of the rope indefinitely (specific time to be determined by the contest judges).

(5)    You will be allowed two minutes to set up and two minutes to take down you device. 

(6)    We reserve the right to discontinue any team’s demonstration if it takes longer than three minutes to climb the rope.

(7)    One human intervention will be allowed during a team’s demonstration for the purpose of making adjustments.

(8)    The total project budget, including prototype development, will be limited to $60.  The final design must be constructable for no more than $30.  A detailed accounting of project costs must be included in the final project report.

(9)    No trained animals will be allowed.