Our fling machine started off strong in the first few flings, but quickly lost its effectiveness as the aluminum and pipe-cleaner entwined straws became less and less sturdy. Our design, shown to the left, is a slingshot-like structure with straw and pipe-cleaners as the base, the rubber band acting as the starting trigger, and the aluminum foil serving as support for the cotton ball. My partner Katie and I worked effectively and contributed equally in this project. Given the opportunity to optimize my design, I would work on stabilizing and strengthening the structure in order to get more consistent results. We would have been more effective if we had time-managed better, as we often found ourselves short on time. Considering that a lot of teams didn't bring the materials needed, they made more simplistic designs, sometimes only using one material. I felt as though none of those designs were particularly innovative, though they were effective in terms of flinging the cotton ball far. Below is my reflection on this project.
