Students in Mr. Icso’s Principles of Engineering class built a fully automated mini-golf course this spring.
At Troy High School, a group of students spent part of the spring working on what sounds like a dream assignment: building a nine-hole mini-golf course. But as is often the case with design and engineering, it was anything but easy.
The project is part of Principles of Engineering, the second course in Troy High’s engineering pathway. Teacher Brendan Icso designed it to push students beyond the basics of design software and 3D printing into something far more demanding: making complex systems actually work together.
“This is almost a perfect example of engineering in a nutshell,” Icso said. “As you look around, you can see them all constantly making iterations.”
Each student group was responsible for designing and building one hole of the course. The catch? Every hole had to connect seamlessly to the next — and the group that built the next hole was often in a different class period.
That meant students couldn’t just hand off their work in person. Instead, they needed to ensure a different team, working at a different time, could pick up exactly where they left off.
Students in Mr. Icso’s Principles of Engineering class built a fully automated mini-golf course this spring.
“They had to learn how to collaborate across classes,” Icso said. “They had to make very careful measurements and drawings so that each team would know where the ball had to move, even if the other kids weren’t in the room.”
The course isn’t just a series of ramps and obstacles. Each hole is fully automated, using a combination of hydraulic, pneumatic, kinematic and mechanical systems. Once a ball drops in, the hole has to capture it and move it precisely to the starting point of the next hole – also known as complete systems integration.
Adding motion to a design, Icso said, multiplies the number of things that can go wrong.
“Your first idea is not going to work perfectly,” Icso said. “That doesn’t mean the idea is bad. That just means you’ve got to go back and try something different.”
Students used 3D printers and laser cutters to bring their designs to life. Many of their current components are built from cardboard and tape. Next year, Icso said, the new technology wing will bring vacuum molding equipment and additional manufacturing tools that will take the project to another level entirely.
Students in Mr. Icso’s Principles of Engineering class built a fully automated mini-golf course this spring.
The course also pushed students to think about something engineers deal with constantly: the person using the final product is rarely the person who built it.
“You’ve got to think about the end user,” Icso said. “Is it intuitive? Is it foolproof? What if somebody hits it in a way I didn’t think about?”
For students in the Principles of Engineering course, the mini golf project is where classroom skills meet real consequences. The course they’re building is real. People are going to play on it.
Students in Mr. Icso’s Principles of Engineering class built a fully automated mini-golf course this spring.
“This really exists,” Icso said. “You’ve got to think about how your designs are going to hold up.”
To give their work a real-world application, the class held a staff minigolf tournament, inviting Troy High faculty and staff to stop by the room and try their hand at the course. Mr. VonEitzen came out on top – and received a custom 3d printed trophy as his prize!