Tuesday, March 31, 2009

24-Vehicle Pile-Up

Watch what happens when 24 SketchUp cars, trucks, and other vehicles slide down a ramp, do a ski jump, and land on a big flat box.



This project was the idea of Guzman Tierno, a middle school math teacher in Italy. As part of a course on solids, each student designed his or her own car, then Guzman used Sketchy Physics to do the ramp simulation. (This makes me REALLY want to learn more about Sketchy Physics...)

The kids involved in this project are just 13 years old. I certainly didn't do anything this cool when I was 13 (or 18 or 25 for that matter...) The only objects Guzman had to model himself were shock absorbers for the monster truck. This collection in the 3D Warehouse has the model of each car, plus the model of the whole assembly.

If you're a math teacher who's looking for reasons to integrate SketchUp into your classroom, Guzman has written some interesting how's and why's. I can't wait to see his next class project.

Anyone can design anything in 3D! www.3dvinci.net