Cookin’ Derby — Electric Hot Dog Racing

Pinewood derbies have been a staple of the Cub Scouts since the 1950s and Nerdy Derbies are a Maker Faire favorite, but I’ve never seen a variation quite like the Electric Hot Dog Derby at Maker Faire Bay Area this last year.

“Fundamentally, it’s just a fancy pinewood derby track,” said creator Andrew Leung — but with cars that cook weenies along the way. Each 3D-printed car has about 100 thumbtacks that poke into the hot dogs, and aluminum wheels that draw current from the track through induction to zap them on their way to the finish line.

“I used copper tape to create what effectively is about 90 feet of exposed wire along the length of the track in all three lanes,” Leung said. “Electricity passes through the wheels into the spikes and through the hot dog.”

A microcontroller from Adafuit controls the full setup, releasing the starting gates at the top and using IR sensors at the bottom to determine a winner. A large 7-segment display tracks the winning time and finally a taser activates at the finish line to give the hot dogs a little extra sear and a satisfying auditory end to the race.

Photography by Carlo Cantavalli

“The reaction was better than I could have imagined,” Leung said. “Everyone really liked it, even people just walking by would laugh when reading the sign. The concept alone is pretty funny, and that’s before getting a crowd of people together to cheer on their favorite hot dog.”

This article appeared in Make: Vol 92. Subscribe for more great projects.