Mousetrap Vehicle C

[cheese]

So from what I'm getting, are 2-7/8" banebots wheels not viable this year? Since if you want the car to go backwards then it has to go at least 8 m theoretically since you can't coast forwards if you reverse wind.

You could just make a longer lever arm.

harvard wants to know your location
jkjk, if you look at the photo I shared earlier, I also use very small wheels, and I can go ~9 m total with that design.

[sciencecat42]

So from what I'm getting, are 2-7/8" banebots wheels not viable this year? Since if you want the car to go backwards then it has to go at least 8 m theoretically since you can't coast forwards if you reverse wind.

You could just make a longer lever arm.

harvard wants to know your location
jkjk, if you look at the photo I shared earlier, I also use very small wheels, and I can go ~9 m total with that design.

That's an interesting design, but I'd be worried about the balance as it seems very front heavy. Also, I'm current using a hollow aluminum rod only 30cm long and it's flexing quite a bit, so I'm not sure what would work if you had an even longer arm.

[nicholasmaurer]

PSA: there has been a minor rule clarification for Mousetrap Vehicle. The original wording created a slight scoring problem where a Tier 4 run with a run score of 100 would have taken precedence over a Tier 1 run with a run score of 200, because it ranked teams based upon the run with the lower score even if that run was a worse tier. This has been resolved.

[cuber]

Just a clarification, does rule 3h (all parts must move as a whole) block out delayed turning mechanisms or mechanisms that move the dowel perpendicular to the motion of the vehicle?

This concerns me because a) I spent a considerable amount of time perfecting a delayed turning mechanism which is actually reliable and accurate and I’d hate to give it up, and b) if things like this are allowed, can’t you just add a rack and pinion that slides the dowel (initialy touching the cup) out 10cm to the VTP? I guess that isnt really an option for the .5m nationals offset but im not going so I might as well take advantage...

[terence.tan]

Just a clarification, does rule 3h (all parts must move as a whole) block out delayed turning mechanisms or mechanisms that move the dowel perpendicular to the motion of the vehicle?

This concerns me because a) I spent a considerable amount of time perfecting a delayed turning mechanism which is actually reliable and accurate and I’d hate to give it up, and b) if things like this are allowed, can’t you just add a rack and pinion that slides the dowel (initialy touching the cup) out 10cm to the VTP? I guess that isnt really an option for the .5m nationals offset but im not going so I might as well take advantage...

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

[cuber]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

[antoine_ego]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

[PM2017]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

Besides, the curve really isn't too much longer than the straight line distance. And curve is honestly much easier than the rack and pinion method cuber is talking about.

Still, a fun exercise in finding loopholes in rules. That's always fun.

[cuber]

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

With access to a 3d printer this is really not that difficult. I’ll report back next week in whether this is a successful tactic. And like i said, I’m in NY and there’s no chance of dethroning Fayettville Manlius or columbia so my only goal is 1st at states

[windu34]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

I do not think this is going to be accurate enough for strong performance at the national level. I also agree with Antoine that its going to be more difficult than perfecting a curved trajectory.