Need help on improvements with this project
for a project we have to make a mouse trap (can only use brand of mouse trap provided and it can be teared down but the spring cannot be changed) power mechanism and use a single action (a single trigger) to transport a small ball exactly 12m. This could be anything from a trebuchet to a car or (like what we decided) walking machine. The problem is that the mouse traps do not have enough power to move the gear, and thus the machine due to the torque required. i have tried using multiple and putting bearing/ wd40 where nessarcy. The gear ratio is nessary for it to travel the right distance. Would there be anyway to daisy chain mousetraps to increase the string lenght and make it travel further with a smaller gear ratio or should we just go with another design since it is very early in the project (this is a crude proof of concept)
meant to be placed opposite (across middle axle) to black gear assembly)
Posted May 7, 2026, 12:32 PM UTC