The Egg Drop Challenge

This lecture presents a project inspired by SpaceX's Crew Dragon mission, challenging students to design a lightweight device to protect a fragile cargo, represented by a raw egg, from impact when dropped from a height. The challenge involves constraints on weight, materials, and potential active components, pushing students to apply their engineering knowledge to find an optimal solution. Participants will work in groups to design and test their devices, considering factors such as impact forces, materials, and physical reasoning. The ultimate goal is to drop an egg from the highest altitude without breaking it on a stone surface, leading to a competition among participants.