A lightweight truss optimized through custom analysis tools

This project pushed my partner, Javid Garcia, and I to take structural analysis and design to the limit. We spent weeks refining a 3D-printed truss to achieve the lightest possible weight while maintaining stability, developing our own custom spreadsheet and calculators to optimize member thickness and safety factors far beyond the provided tools.

Our final truss weighed just 39.4 g, the lightest in the class, and performed within 6% of predicted results. We even caught and corrected an error in the instructor’s example calculations, offering feedback that’s now being used to improve how the project is taught in future years.

It was a meticulous and rewarding challenge, and one we took all the way to the max, both in analysis and fabrication.