Do YOU want to build a gravity racer?

As I explained in my last post, the gravity racer project that was the subject of this blog, ground to a halt for reasons that have nothing to do with the engineering challenges. Actually the design is still a sound concept and, more than that, there was still much more of the deign to come that had not been aired in the blog.

With this in mind, and as there has been so much interest in the blog, I thought it might be worth floating the possibility of getting the project going again. However, right now I’m not in a position to build the car myself. Yet a blog featuring a stream of engineering ideas unsupported by practical experience is not a very sound basis on which to advise others. So, no car, no blog and this really is the end.

However, if someone out there is considering building a gravity racer and is wondering how and where to get started, they would be very welcome to adopt this design. In fact I would happily work with them, sharing ideas in return for their experiences. Then, the results would be the basis for more entries in the blog.

If you fancy this, please get in touch and let’s start talking to see where it takes us. But, for now, thank you for dropping in and goodbye.

What happened?

I can’t believe it’s three and a half years since I last posted on this blog. So why the radio silence? Well the reason is quite simple. From the start, the project was intended to engage my sons and get them thinking about engineering and science. I wanted them to think problems through and apply their theories to a practical application. I also hoped it would encourage them to pick up tools and use their hands in direct contrast to their normal digital, multimedia lives.

In that respect, it failed. Perhaps I was running too far ahead, or maybe it was never going to be their thing. Whatever the reason, it didn’t work out the way I hoped and the car was put on ice. As the project had not really got rolling, I stopped posting on the blog on the assumption that nobody was likely to take any notice of the very truncated story. 

Imagine my surprise, then, when I visited it recently to find the entries have been attracting a steady stream of visitors over the intervening period. I must confess to a degree of guilt that the story stops mid flow and I apologise to those who found the blog and were disappointed when it stopped dead.

So, what to do now? I have an idea. See the next entry for details.