For the drawing and sketching assignment I got a pretty interesting challenge:
It’s backwards but it reads: Soldiers need a better way to catch mice that works on the moon.
Ignoring the obvious issues of how mice ended up in the moon and how they are going to survive there, we need to address the constraints and characteristics of our problem. Being in the moon means that there is no atmosphere and low gravity, therefore we can not rely on weight and we can not use guns or explosions =(. Also we know that soldier have big arsenal available – that will not help much =(( – and military training.
After the brainstorm, I was able to come up with three good ideas for solutions:
- Mouse glue
- Mouse hunting harpoon
- Magnetic box mouse trap
The first idea, the mouse glue is pretty simple. To catch a mouse you will need to spread the glue in place the mice usually pass or bait them. Then the mouse will get stuck, just like in the sketch below:
We know the soldiers are good shooters, but in the moon they can not use regular weapons because there is no atmosphere, therefore there is no oxygen to ignite the gun powder. So if you want to hunt mice in the moon you will need the Mouse hunting harpoon based on compressed gas.
It looks like a regular weapon but under the barrel there is a gas cylinder with high pressure air to propel the harpoon. It has also a fishing line attached to the harpoon and the gun to pull back the harpoon after a shot.
Also the harpoon has four spikes to increase the area of the harpoon damage and make it easier to hit the mouse
An interesting thing about this solution is that it is actually better on the moon than in earth because the absence of atmosphere and low gravity allow the harpoon to travel further and faster
The last solution is a Magnetic box mouse trap. The inside and outside views are shown below – sketches and drawings:
This trap is basically a box with a sliding door. The box is kept open by a trigger connected by a wire to a lever inside the box. As the mouse moves inside the box to get the bait the lever moves and pulls the trigger, however in the moon the low gravity is not able to close the door fast enough. That is why when the lever moves it closes a circuit that energizes a electromagnet repeling the magnetic door.
