Sessions 15–16: Research & Design
Racquet Ball Launcher Project — Milestone 1 of 6
'F' → Fullscreen
Build
Step 1: Bungee Safety Certification
Before anyone on your team touches a bungee cord, watch your instructor's demonstration and confirm you understand all five protocols:
- Never stand in the release path
- Inspect every cord for fraying or wear before each use
- Check anchor points before every pull, not just the first
- Eye protection any time a cord is under tension
- Release under control — never just let go at full stretch
This is a hard gate: no team begins Build (Sessions 17–20) without every member certified.
Step 2: Choose Your Independent Variable
Pull distance or launch angle — confirm with your instructor whether this is your team's free choice this year. Whichever you pick, everything downstream (your test protocol, your calibration model, your field-day strategy) is built around it.
Step 3: Generate 3 Concepts + Decision Matrix
Using the exact technique from Session 3: sketch 3 genuinely different launcher concepts, then score them in a decision matrix (Cost / Feasibility / Time / Alignment with your chosen IV) before committing to one.
Step 4: Write Your Test Protocol
State, in writing, all three of these:
- What you're varying (your IV) and across what range
- How many trials you'll run per setting
- How that data becomes a calibration model
You don't need the model yet — just a real plan for building one. A vague protocol will be sent back before Build begins.
Checkpoint
Before Session 16 ends, confirm all of the following:
- Every team member is certified on bungee cord safety
- Three genuinely different concepts were sketched — not 3 variations on one idea
- Your decision matrix has real scores and reasoning, not a pre-decided winner
- Your IV is chosen and justified in writing
- Your test protocol names what's varied, trial count, and how data becomes a model
Reflection
Answer the following questions before submitting your work.
- Why does this project require a written test protocol before anyone builds anything, instead of just letting teams start building and figure out testing later?
- Of the five bungee safety protocols, which one do you think would be easiest to get careless about after a few weeks of routine building? Why?
- Session 3 taught you that your first idea is rarely your best one. Did that hold true here — did your team's chosen concept end up being the first one anyone sketched, or a later one?
Submit
Submit your team's Design Packet (concept sketch, decision matrix, IV justification, test protocol) and your individual reflection.