Boomerang – Engineering 28 Final Project

As a final project for Engineering 28, Basic Engineering Design Graphics at the University of California, Berkeley, our mission was to design and build a prototype of a simple device that will quickly accelerate forward as far as possible, then reverse direction and go backwards as far as possible without passing the point of orgin (i.e., without passing the starting line). The device had to be pointing in the opposite direction (compared to its original orientation) when it was moving backwards and/or in its final resting position. Deployment of the device had to be automatic with no guidance, upon activation of a mechanical triggering mechanism.

Our team, The Fantastic Four and the Millipedes, essentially designed a cross-bow of sorts. Our device shot out a projectile made using a fused deposition modeling machine and retracted it after a delayed period of time. Overall, our design was comprised of a crossbow to shoot out the projectile and a winch to retract it back.

All of the parts of our device were modeled accurately in SolidWorks. In addition to a working prototype, our final submission included conceptual sketches, multi-views, assembly layouts and exploded assembly drawings, and a Bill of Materials.

Linked blow is our final presentation.

Boomerang Final Presentation