01x07 - Just for Kicks

[bunniefuu]

Last time on Design Squad,

the teams made machines to...

Grind this stuff into peanut

butter.

...for a women's cooperative

in Haiti.

Red Team was caught between a

rock and a hard place.

You can stand on this, but I

want to have something to stand

on, all right?

Blue Team cranked out a

victory.

( cheering )

So their design went to Haiti.

I like it.

And that put Natasha in the

lead for the college

scholarship.

Ah, Tom, let's see.

I don't know.

I'm just going to probably sit

him out and then have a chat

with him before he decides to do

anything drastic again, because

that behavior last challenge is

just, I don't know, to me,

unacceptable.

* We've got two days

to get this straight

* We got a challenge

just won't wait

our eyes are on the prize

* Two engineers

just set the date

* We got this client

can't be late

oh, no, it's go time

* Build it, test, fix it

debug now and kick it

* Got to get it off the ground

yeah

* Stick around and you'll see

what teamwork's supposed to mean

* It's so key

Design Squad

Design Squad! *

All right, Design Squads,

we're going to kick it up notch

this week.

Come on over here and check out

today's client.

Hi, I'm Michael Parkhurst,

and I'm a professional soccer

player for the New England

Revolution.

( cheering )

I was the Major League

Soccer rookie of the year.

I'm a defender.

My job is to stop the attack of

the opposing team, intercept,

and clear the ball up field, so

passing is an important part of

my game, and the only way to get

better is to practice, practice,

practice.

And that's where you come in,

Design Squads.

Here's today's challenge.

I want each of you to build an

automatic soccer ball kicking

machine to help me practice

passing.

Here are the specs.

The machines must continually

sh**t ba*ls at me with speed and

accuracy.

I'll field-test the two machines

at a Revolution practice.

May the best machine win.

Good luck, squads.

Awesome!

Impressive, huh?

Michael wants a machine that's

going to help him practice

passing, so you need to focus on

making sure that your machines

kick ba*ls with speed and

accuracy.

Each member of the winning team

gets points.

Do you guys have any questions?

Oh, my gosh.

This is so cool.

What's our shopping

situation?

You guys can use everything

in the shop, just like usual,

and for anything else you guys

need, two members of each team

will be able to go shopping.

It'll definitely give you guys a

competitive advantage to be able

to automatically feed ba*ls into

the kicking machine, so you

should definitely design around

that.

So if you don't have any

other questions, are you guys

ready to start brainstorming?

Let's kick some ba*ls, yeah.

All right.

Let's get this brainstorm

going.

My initial idea, as soon as I

saw the Revolution guys, was a

wheel here and a wheel here.

So when these wheels spin

outward, it pulls the ball in

and shoots it out.

The way that baseball feeders

work is actually just two wheels

spinning at a high speed.

Some pitching machines, for,

like, baseballs, for example,

they have just one arm that has

a cup on it.

It's the slingshot effect.

It launches the ball forward.

I mean, there's a lot of

things kind of like a catapult.

You can have like the automatic

football things.

You pretty much take it back,

and it's kind of like a big

lever arm with, you know, a

high-coil spring on it.

Yeah, that's just like a...

Like a pinball launcher.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's kind of like it.

I always picture, like, a

medal rod and, like, a shoe on

the end.

You can get something to go from

this position to this position.

These little gears would push

up against this lip here, and

then it would hit the shoe.

So it's a kicker.

It's a kicker.

Yeah.

All right, so we have our

sh**ter, our thrower, and our

kicker.

Roller/wheel, pinball, or

kicker-- it's one of those

three.

I'd suggest we look at what

we have first.

So are we definitely on this

one?

So look for motors and

wheels, or we're looking for

everything?

Just look for everything.

All in the shop.

All right, so let's do that.

Grab the equipment in the

shop before Red Team gets in.

Turning wheels right now.

What?

What else?

We only need two.

If a motor is two expensive

for our budget, we could always

use our drills.

The drills wouldn't actually

spin fast enough.

I have no idea what this is.

I think that's for your car

windshield wiper.

So this is a motor.

Do you want to take that just

in case?

Yeah, it's a motor.

Yeah, let's just take that

just in case.

I mean, we haven't said that

we've chosen one, but we've

gotten all materials for one.

Do you want to do pros and

cons of the ideas, or do you

want to just call it?

I know what I like.

I know what I like also,

but...

I don't want to straddle two

ideas the whole day, because

that's what I always end up

doing.

So the roller is our team's

plan A then.

Had a two-wheel design, just

like what it'd be for a baseball

feeder.

But I think we're really going

to need to take our spin on

this-- no pun intended.

The two wheels right here,

and it's going... it's turning

in opposite directions.

And then there will be, like,

the hopper in the back.

You can either change the

direction probably like almost

like a tripod setup.

So if you wanted to aim it high

or aim it low, we could change

the direction of that.

We want to be able to also

sh**t left, right, you know, and

all sides, as well as moving up

and down.

Let's pick an idea and go

with it.

You got it.

Is this the most voted

design?

I guess so, yeah.

Everyone agrees on it.

Yeah.

Yeah, all right.

Okay, good.

Yeah, they have Tom; they

can't possibly win.

Oh.

Yes!

Wow, we're trash-talking

already.

Guys, when I peeked my head

into the Blue room, I saw that

they had the big wheels that I

saw earlier today in the shop.

So it's possible they could be

doing a very similar design to

ours, even though ours will be

better.

I'm kind of nervous because

the Blue Team has a very, very

similar design to us.

So it comes down to the smallest

details, like whose works a

little bit better than the

other's.

Ah, it's going to be so close I

think.

It makes me kind of nervous.

Kim and I are going to go

shopping.

Yeah.

If you guys can start to try

to make the...

...the structure of it?

Yeah.

...the structure of it, see

if you can make something so

that you can angle it a little

bit.

So you have these two, and

they have to be spaced out

evenly.

Soccer ball goes right in the

middle.

These are spinning.

Oh.

And it just... whoosh!

Shopping list: two motors.

Two monster motors.

Phat tires.

I can already see this coming

along, and I'm psyched about it.

Krishana and I will go.

Yep, I'm ready to go to the

store, guys.

All right, what are we

looking for?

Turntable bearings.

I think we should go with

big.

I think we should go with

small.

Both.

Let's go with both.

We have chicken wire.

It's five bucks.

We'll get two.

Nice.

I think that's the last thing

we can do, the frame.

No, the frame is the first

thing we should do.

No, because we don't know how

big.

No, we do know how big.

We just have to go by the ball.

, RPM we used for our

dragsters we can use here.

We don't want to take out the

soccer player's leg.

We want to impress them, not

k*ll them.

And we should also build a frame

around it so it's supported on

both sides of the wheels.

Put, like, tires.

Tires.

It's just about ten inches or

so.

Hey.

Hi, Kim.

Are we going to be fine with

the wheels we have, or do you

want us to get other wheels?

What kind of wheels do we

want?

Ten-inch diameter with...

tires that we can take the air

out of.

Ten-inch diameters that...

with tires that we can take the

air out of.

We can't take the air out of

those ones?

No, we can't.

They want us to get these,

ten-inch ones we can deflate.

All right.

Axles for the tires.

That one works.

Yeah.

We just need to get some sort

of tubing to put the ba*ls in.

Right.

Now, where are we going to get

tubing?

Dude, tubes.

No!

They're all ours.

This is what we've been

looking for.

This is tubular.

Put them in the cart.

We can use anything in the

shop.

Anything in the shop is ours to

use.

Do you want to hold this motor

for me?

Yeah-- I'm scared.

No, I mean, like, hold the

motor.

I am scared.

I'm scared.

I told you to hold it.

I did hold it.

See the spark?

Yeah, I can see it.

I can see it.

I can feel it too.

Hold it tight.

I'm holding it tight.

Oh, yeah, see?

No.

What was he thinking?

He wasn't thinking.

No, but see, when you didn't

hold that...

We're testing, because what

we're going to be doing is we're

going to be mounting these

wheels on these motors and

having them spin, and that will

be propelling four...

I think two will suffice.

...four batteries.

We're using all four?

Yes, because we want the ball

to go as fast as possible.

If speed is what they're

looking for, Red Team should

wire their batteries in series.

That means the positive terminal

of one battery connects to the

negative terminal of another.

The more batteries connected in

series, the higher the voltage.

And a higher voltage will make

the motors go faster.

So to hit maximum speed, Red

Team should wire all four of

their batteries in series.

It's going to be about

feet per second.

miles an hour?

Is that a little too fast?

We're going to be k*lling

him.

We can just set up the basic

structure.

Oh, you guys, we're so happy

to see you.

We're back.

We got stuff.

Yay, chicken wire.

We basically built the actual

frame for everything.

The part that's with Tom

right now is going to be

attached right here on the three

hinges, and it's going to be

able to fold up and downward.

You're going to put the

rotating bed here.

Yeah.

It's the top piece.

You center it; it's going to lay

down like that.

All right, we're ready to fly.

I'm working on the structure

for the base of the sh**ter.

So I built a little triangle

structure.

I'm going to build another one.

So this is the board for the

sh**ter.

The sh**ter is going to be

mounted on here.

Nice.

So we now have horizontal

movement.

This piece of wood is going to

be right here, and everything

else, which is the motors and

the wheels and basically the

rest of our design, is going to

be mounted on this piece of wood

or a piece of wood similar to

this, and it's going to turn--

and we'll put a little handle--

back and forth so that you can

the direction that the shot is

being fired at.

So right now I'm working on the

vertical movement of the

sh**ter, so I'm going to try and

use hinges and put the sh**ter

on here, and then we can move it

up and down.

I like it.

Why don't you like it?

We have no way to make this

movement stay.

No, no, no, no, no.

Why don't you attach angle line

here-- like, one coming out of

here, one coming out of here--

and every time you move the

angle... because there's already

holes in it, you just have to

put a bolt through it, and do

that for both sides.

We have to figure out the

angle that this thing actually

moves at.

Hey, it worked.

Yay.

I want to get the tires in

position so we can start nailing

everything down.

We're basically just building

a table and drilling a hole

right here.

That's about inches from

the battery.

This is what Noah and I have

designed basically, was motor,

motor, wheel, wheel.

Wow.

The motor can be mounted

right on top of this piece of

wood and then have the axle go

right through here and hose-

clamp it tight.

So that's our makeshift coupling

basically.

A coupling is used to join

two shafts together.

But because Red Team's axle and

motor shaft don't line up

perfectly, they need a coupling

that will bend easily and rotate

the axle.

That rubber hose should do the

trick.

And when the motor runs, this

will spin, thus propelling the

soccer ball toward the player.

The pipes that you cut for

me, these, will go in here, and

there will be a tack weld to

prevent this from moving, and

then the axle will go in here.

That'll also be welded.

All right, here we have our

two axles.

Now, instead of welding them

right here, we're going to braze

them.

Brazing is a lot like soldering,

except it uses higher

temperature, and it's a lot

stronger.

And before we get to brazing, we

have to clean both pieces so the

braze actually sticks.

This flex that I'm putting on

will protect our rod and our

tube from being contaminated as

we heat it.

It looks a lot easier on TV.

Like, I don't... at this

point, like, I don't see, like,

the actually pieces of it coming

together.

We really need to get this

done because... yeah, we just...

we have nothing completed yet.

Where's the bearing?

Yeah, I'm feeling a lot of

pressure about the time, because

we don't have a lot done, and I

just super-glued my fingers

together.

Time's up.

Wrap it up, Design Squads.

I brazed the bearing on the

wheel, and I also brazed our

axle to the wheel so that now

the axle and the wheel are one.

So what we're going to do, I'm

just going to cut the axle so

that... the chuck only goes to

about right here, so I'm going

to cut the axle so that it fits

into the chuck and so that the

drill can lay down.

It's like a sandwich: nut,

washer, wheel, waster, nut.

Okay, and then... did we put it

on the right way?

That's pretty good.

It doesn't sh**t fast enough.

Guys, we're going to try

launching a ball.

You ready?

It's not getting enough

contact.

Move the drills closer.

Yeah, that's what I mean.

Well, you don't have to cut

the whole thing in half.

Just drill two more big... two

more holes.

Then put another piece of

plywood over it, and then drill

a hole in that.

I would just drill two more

holes.

We have to do this now, like,

no time to waste to talk about

it.

Why do we have to move both

of the holes?

Why don't we just move one?

I'm not arguing against you,

I'm just saying let's... if

you're gong to do it, do it now.

Let's just go, right now.

Move, move, move.

I don't get what you're

saying though.

Remember the idea that we had

from before where we would cut

it down the center and just kind

of piece it back together again?

Yeah.

What about that?

Work, do it.

( cheering )

( cheering )

Yeah!

Yes!

Good work.

Good work.

All right, what else do we

got to do?

We need a different way to...

...stop or control the flow

of our ba*ls.

I'm going to go cut this into a

few shapes just for testing

purposes.

Hello, Blue Team.

How's it going?

What were you guys talking

about?

What's happening?

For our hopper, we wanted to

hook up a motor so, as it's

spinning, it'll go... ball goes,

stop, a ball goes, and now

another one's stopped.

If we just have one notch

inside a circle, that would

release one ball every rotation.

So it would slow down a lot

more.

That's cool.

That will hog the ball.

That will hog the ball,

exactly.

We're going to use this motor

right here to control the gate

to open and close and let one

ball out at a time.

You know what?

I could actually place this

right at the head of the whole

unit.

Sure, as long as you can get

it done, like, as fast as

possible, because we...

That's done then, isn't it?

Isn't that ready?

It's done.

Yeah, it's pretty much done.

This is going to mounted right

up on top over here.

And it'll just be half a circle.

And by the time the half comes

up, the ball will be able to

just travel down.

Then, after about less than half

a second or so, it'd sh**t the

other one.

So this is the motor that

will spin our stopper.

What's the next move?

From this direction, it looks

like it's a cannon.

Put a ball in.

For Blue Team's gate to work,

it must slide along the ball

until it rolls into the notch.

But if the gate isn't slippery

enough, the ball will jam, like

this.

It just stopped.

Why'd it stop?

It's trying to push the ba*ls

up.

Get the ball.

Get the ball.

Get the ball.

It's in the tube.

Go.

That's not working either.

And we'll just throw some

ba*ls through it now, impress

the other team.

All right, get the motor.

Get the motor.

No, no, no.

It worked fine, but...

I know, because the wood...

No...

All right we can't test

today.

It was bound to break anyway.

It's like in the middle of

nowhere.

Krishana, we got ten minutes

before we have to test our

machine.

We have to figure out how

we're going to mount this.

Ah, ah, ah, it worked.

Aw.

It stopped.

On that wedge.

Dude, cut that off.

If we lubed it, it would

slide a little bit better.

Sun screen.

Not only is this lubed up, but

it's not going to get a sunburn.

Ooh, like butter.

One ball.

Oh, no.

Ah.

What if we used a different

motor?

Let's just mount this, because

this is our last effort.

We don't have any time for

anything else.

Hang on one second.

Are you prepared...

No, hang on, okay?

Jeez.

It's not working.

You guys about ready to go?

Ish.

Ish?

Well, time's up.

You guys got to start packing

up.

We're going to move it over to

the field, okay?

Guys, you have a drill that's

about to...

Hey, Design Squads.

Hey.

Hey.

We brought your client, Mike,

from the New England Revolution.

Hey, Mike.

Nice to meet you.

Come over and check out Blue

Team's machine.

Yeah.

My, my.

I think you're really going

to like it.

We have here our soccer ball

driller, if you get the pun.

We tried to get our machine

low to the ground.

And it can swivel left and

right, up and down as well.

All right.

Well, give it a shot.

So are you guys ready to test

it out?

Yeah.

You might want to come up.

That's all right.

You figure it out, Blue Team.

We'll wait.

( applause )

The Red Team's loving it right

now.

Ah!

That's how you stop it.

Okay, now we'll do it without

the hopper now.

We don't need to trash-talk.

We'll just, you know, let that

machine do the talking for us.

The trash-talking is

increasing here.

All right, it looks like they

got it going here.

They got it cranking now.

Hey, come on, you're supposed

to run!

Not too high.

We don't want to k*ll him.

All right.

You got it working after all.

Very good work.

You guys got some steep

competition.

Oh, yeah.

This is our high-velocity

soccer ball sh**ter.

Using two wheels at a very fast

speed, push the ball between

them and fires it out.

Also, it can be changed for

speed, depending on the voltage

that you choose.

Wow.

And then we have this unit

here that... right now it's a

little bit fast, but it can be

tweaked a little bit so that it

can have a continuous flow of

ba*ls, or you can just take it

off altogether and just have one

ball at a time and somebody

feeding it to you.

You can also change the

horizontal and vertical position

to give the defender some

variation.

Wow, it looks great.

It looks like you guys spent a

lot of time on it.

We did.

( laughter )

Let's do it.

You might want to back up a

little bit.

Oh, no.

Probably to about this line

right here.

Don't listen to him.

Ready?

With the hopper.

That's all right.

Wow.

( Red Team gasping )

( laughter and applause )

I guess it's accurate.

You k*lled a professional

soccer player!

He's not dead.

Points off!

Points off!

Let me know when you're going

to put it on full throttle.

Wow.

Back up!

That was our machine.

That was awesome.

It was great.

All right, why don't we

huddle up and talk about which

team deserves the points?

Okay.

How about the Blue Team?

What did you think of their

machine?

I think after they got over

their, you know, initial

problems and they got the ball

rolling, it worked out pretty

well.

They had the ball coming up a

little higher than the Red Team.

But if we were concentrating on

passing, then, you know, I kind

of like the ball a little lower.

What did you think about the

Red Team?

I liked how they got out of

the gates quick.

Unlike the Blue Team, they had

minor, minor difficulties, and

once they got it rolling, it

seemed consistent.

They were all coming to me

rather than, you know, making me

run all over the place.

You know, if I'm working on my

own, that's what I'd like, even

though it was a little hard.

( laughter )

Maybe they just forgot to tell

me to back up.

Unfortunately, only one can win

though, right?

That's right.

Got the news.

Well, it was a really tough

decision.

Congratulations on building two

great machines.

I know you guys worked hard, and

it paid off.

They were great.

But in the end, I had to go with

the Red Team.

Yeah!

I felt like their accuracy

was a little better, and they

got it going from the get-go.

So I'm sorry, Blue.

You guys did great.

Captioned by

<span> Media Access Group at WGBH

access.wgbh.org

Ah!

kay, okay.@

Oh!

So after seven challenges,

Natasha is kicking it in the

lead with points.

All right, Deanne, here's a new

challenge: describe the Design

Squad Web site in ten seconds.

Go.

There are games, photos, new

challenges, videos, quizzes,

scoring updates.

Time's up.

Ugh!

Just go to pbskidsgo.org.

Hi, I'm Scott Keller.

I'm a project engineer for

Burton Snowboards, and I design

snowboard bindings.

A snowboard binding attaches

your foot to the snowboard.

I'll get artwork from our

industrial designers and try to

re-create their design intent.

If you can think about, like, a

snowboarder who maybe weighs

pounds going off a -foot jump.

When he lands, there's going to

be a lot of force going through

the binding into the board.

So I have to do stress

calculations to make sure that

they're not going to break when

that force goes through them.

We have a set of tests that

we'll run to make sure that

they're strong enough, that

they're not going to break.

We do this test in a freezer

because snowboarding is done in

the cold, and we'll just make

sure that it can stand up to the

life that we think it should

have.

If you've got a good idea and

you believe in it, just because

it doesn't work the first time

doesn't mean it's not going to

work eventually.

The sport's being pushed all the

time, and so our job is try to

keep one step ahead of that.