The task was to trigger a mousetrap and use mechanism to create a delay of about 30 seconds to trigger the next mousetrap.
Jonathan and I paired up for this assignment. We started out listing things that we might use to put together this mechanism. During this discussion, we hit upon the idea of using paper napkin to release the marble by making it wet. I really loved this idea because we are altering the material property to make it break. It would have its own randomness as one cannot define the exact time it would break. Another element that we wanted to use was a rubber band powered 'car'. We also used a ladder type of a thing to slow the marble down.
We encountered a lot of interesting things while making this project. The flow rate of the water from the cup to the toilet paper was dependent on the size of the whole and weight of the water in the cup. We did not want that to be too high or too little. Another issue that we came across was the water landing on the path of the marble that was causing friction and made the marble get stuck in water. Hence we had to make a drainage holes for the water to flow. This helped smoothen the movement of the marble. Overall it was a very good learning experience to make this in such a short span of time.