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Students are asked to create a contraption that will catch a "fly". The fly is created by the course staff and is roughly a 3 foot cube. The fly is in the center of a 30 ft. diameter circle, which students may not enter, although they may interact with their devices from outside of the circle. The fly catcher must pick up the fly and move it outside the circle within 90 seconds. The only materials allowed for the fly catcher are two sheets of foam core and one yard of fabric: no tape, glue, string, etc. are permissible. Catchers must be decorated, and other materials which are non-functional and contribute only to the appearance may be used.
Encourage students to think creatively and use time wisely. They should test their catchers as much as possible before they are due (finding an appropriate testing method may be an important factor in the success of this project), and may go through multiple iterations. The final catcher should be well built. Remind students to think about transportation and set-up. They may have to carry their catchers to class through rain, wind, or snow.
Instructors must complete construction of the fly before the assignment is handed out. The fly should be shown to the students when they are given the project, and should be made available to them throughout the time they are working so they can take measurements, etc. as they design their fly catchers. The day of the presentations, make sure to mark out the circle early. Reward creative solutions and well decorated or constructed catchers.
This project is appropriate for the following variations (most are described in the section how to make design projects more meaningful):
This project was assigned in ME101, Visual Thinking, at Stanford University.
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