flat howe-4 for TSA Structural Design and Engineering 2027, High School (balsa, 9 in span)

The help we used

This contest asks you to say what help and AI tools you used. Here is a paragraph you can adapt; change it to match what your team really did.

We used Balsa Bridge Lab, a free bridge-design tool that uses computer optimization, to generate a design that meets the TSA Structural Design and Engineering 2027, High School (balsa, 9 in span) rules, which we then studied, checked, built and tested ourselves. Any changes we made and what we learned are our own. We describe this in the Resources and AI Reflection (up to four pages, scored, see TSA's 2027 & 2028 Forms Appendix).

The full-size plan

One truss seen from the side, 9.9 in long. Both trusses are built on this same plan. The plan prints full size across the pages outlined below: trim each page along its dashed line, lay it over the page to its left or above, line up the ⊕ marks and tape it. Print at 100% (“Actual size”) and check the scale bar on each page with a ruler.

Glue order

Pieces that run through a joint go down first, because the others are cut to fit against them: the chords (and the end posts, where they run through the corner). Then the webs between them. Build the second truss the same way on the same plan. The pieces that join the two trusses go in last: the deck members first, then the bracing above them.

1. 1

   First truss: chords

   B1, B2, B3, B4, T1, T2

   Pin them down on the plan over wax paper or plastic wrap.

2. 2

   First truss: webs

   E1, E2, V1, V2, V3, D1, D2

   Cut each end to the plan, then glue it against the chords.

3. 3

   Second truss: chords

   B1, B2, B3, B4, T1, T2

   On the same plan, once the first truss is dry and lifted off.

4. 4

   Second truss: webs

   E1, E2, V1, V2, V3, D1, D2

   The same pieces again.

5. 5

   Join the trusses: deck

   FB1, FB2, FB3, FB4