Mini Car Racing Game Really Shows Off Multicolor Printing

Quality 3D printing is a common hobbyist tool nowadays, and [wontonnn]’s mini arcade car racing game really shows off how 3D printing can bring parts from functional to fantastic. There are quite a few details we like in [wontonn]’s design, so let’s take a closer look.

The mini mechanical game is one of those treadmill-based car racing games in which the player navigates a little car between an onslaught of belt-borne obstacles. A little DC motor spins things up in a modular side assembly, and a hand-cranked option is available. The player’s car attaches via a magnet to a steering arm; if the player’s car gets knocked off the magnet, game over.

Treadmill belt segments print as large pre-assembled pieces, with ends that snap together without connectors. Belts like this are sometimes tricky, so this is worth keeping in mind should one ever need a similar part. Since there are no external fasteners or hardware to depend on, one could resize it easily to suit their own project purposes.

The finishing touches on the whole assembly look great. It used to be that the sort of colors and lettering seen here would come from a sticker or label, but [wontonn] gets clean lines and colors by raising (or sinking) different parts of the design. The checkerboard pattern, for example, has the light squares raised for printing in a different color.

Electromechanical arcade games have an appeal all their own, being a fusion of both mechanical and electric design that comes together in a special way. Want to make your own? Get inspired by the classic Lunar Lander reimagined, or check out this LEGO treadmill racer that takes an entirely different approach to the concept.

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Tailwheel Trainer Go-Cart To Avoid Wrecked Planes

Taildraggers remain a popular configuration for small aircraft, but they come with a significant risk during ground handling: ground loops. If the tail gets too far off course, it can swing around completely, often damaging or destroying aircraft if a wing hits the ground. Avoiding ground loops requires good rudder and brake control, and there currently isn’t a good way to learn it without getting into an actual aircraft. [Trent Palmer] is a pilot and who has been thinking about this problem for a few years, so he built a 3-wheeled electric go-cart to help pilots train their ground handling.

The cart is controlled exactly like a taildragger, with a pair of rudder pedals connected to the single steerable via cables, and springs to add some response delay. Independent hydraulic brakes on each main wheel, operated by toe pedals, further simulate the control on many aircraft. The main wheel are controlled with a throttle lever, with a differential to allow them to rotate at different speeds. The cart is unforgiving, and requires constant corrections with the pedals to keep it going straight.[Trent] had few pilot and non-pilot friends try out the cart, and even the experienced tailwheel pilots got into ground loop. It might be bit too sensitive, but everyone agreed that mastering this cart would significantly improve ground handling skills in actual aircraft.

Repairing a damaged aircraft can cost several thousand dollar, so a cheap training tool like this could prove invaluable flight schools and even individual pilots. [Trent] doesn’t have big plans for commercialization, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it goes that way.

Taildraggers are especially popular as bush planes, with many tracing their heritage from the humble Piper J-3 Cub. We’ve seen some extreme extreme modern bush planes, like [Mike Patey]’s Scrappy and Draco builds. Continue reading “Tailwheel Trainer Go-Cart To Avoid Wrecked Planes”

Car Driving Simulators For Students, Or: When Simulators Make Sense

There are many benefits to learning to fly an airplane, drive a racing car, or operate some complex piece of machinery. Ideally, you’d do so in a perfectly safe environment, even when the instructor decides to flip on a number of disaster options and you find your method of transportation careening towards the ground, or the refinery column you’re monitoring indicating that it’s mere seconds away from going critical and wiping out itself and half the refinery with it.

Still, we send inexperienced drivers in cars onto the roads each day as they either work towards getting their driving license, or have passed their driving exam and are working towards gaining experience. It is this inexperience with dangerous situations and tendency to underestimate them which is among the primary factors why new teenage drivers are much more likely to end up in crashes, with the 16-19 age group having a fatal crash nearly three times as high as drivers aged 20 and up.

After an initial surge in car driving simulators being used for students during the 1950s and 1960s, it now appears that we might see them return in a modern format.

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