The new arrivals

The first of the parts for the duck turned up today.  On the left we have our motor, and in the middle a steering servo.  The pen is just there for scale, but what's that on the right?  Does anyone know what that is?  If you can figure it out, it's a strong clue towards this year's design.  I'm almost sad that the duck is going to be this simple, but really it hasn't been that simple.

Last year we did it backwards - we looked at what we started with, and then tried to figure out what we could build with it.  We had a pair of motors that we could balance force between, and that could be used for thrust and steering, so it was.  We had a hammer and in turn, the problem looked decidedly nail-like.  This year, the design process was followed properly.  We identified the strong and weak points in our design from last year, analysed where we went wrong, and then found all the things we shouldn't do.  With those fresh in mind, we set about all the other possible ways we could solve the problem.

But what did we come up with?  And will it even work?  All I know is, that's a sodding big electric motor.  Stay tuned.