robin1
March 14, 2011, 3:21pm
3
Hey folks,
I need to come up with a design modification for any “engineering” component, structure or mechanism for a college report. I was thinking of picking something that at least half intrests me so I don’t get bored to death writing the report.
I propose to modify starting blocks in some way as to reduce the chances of them slipping, as I have had plenty of blocks slip on me. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that might help me with the design? Or perhaps think of some other sports item linked to sprinting, weightlifting or other power sports that I could base my study on? I’m sick of writing reports on god-awful boring crap like photoelastic stress analysis so I thought that seeing as I have a choice on the subject matter I may as well pick something interesting.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
How about having the spikes on the blocks pointing down and back rather than just pointing down? This way they would be pushed into the track rather than scraping over it when the athlete pushes off.
Another option would simply be to make the blocks bigger and/or heavier.