Bare Minimum

[samy-oak-tree]

In my state it's very much worth it to submit a "rock" to build events (only one school submits build events). What is the simplest thing we can submit and still be score-able, even if it gets 0 points? (AKA not get disqualified or non-scorable)

Does the machine even have to "work"? Can I just submit a ping pong ball that hits a golf ball and then hits a switch which moves the platform up?

Thanks!

[terence.tan]

In my state it's very much worth it to submit a "rock" to build events (only one school submits build events). What is the simplest thing we can submit and still be score-able, even if it gets 0 points? (AKA not get disqualified or non-scorable)

Does the machine even have to "work"? Can I just submit a ping pong ball that hits a golf ball and then hits a switch which moves the platform up?

Thanks!

Make sure that you have the start and final task even if the final doesnt work. At least try to make it seem that you put effort into it even if it doesnt work. If the supervisors see that u genuinly tried, you will get some points. Make sure u get the simple points with the asl, labeled device, 30 min set up time, and small device( but the height must be at least 20cm high because the final platform must be at least 20cm below the top of the device.

Good luck

[trdd]

In my state it's very much worth it to submit a "rock" to build events (only one school submits build events). What is the simplest thing we can submit and still be score-able, even if it gets 0 points? (AKA not get disqualified or non-scorable)

Does the machine even have to "work"? Can I just submit a ping pong ball that hits a golf ball and then hits a switch which moves the platform up?

Thanks!

When I was an event supervisor the bare minimum that I saw from a team consisted of a golf ball inside a small box and a little domino next to the golf ball. The team drops a ping pong ball into the golf ball, and the next task is the non-scorable task of the domino falling. They total operation time was 1 second. They also got points for the ASL, they did their setup in less than 30 seconds, they got maximum points for size (90 points)... The ping pong ball STAYED INSIDE the box, so no penalties for objects leaving.. etc... I accepted their device. The start task ended when the golf ball hit the domino, regardless if the domino fell or not. There were 47 teams but only 25 machines showed. THEY DID NOT COME LAST!!! They came second to last because the last team which tried to do like 10 tasks had so many penalties and tasks that did not abide by the rules that they had a NEGATIVE score. (Yes, a negative score. The last place team did not turn the ASL, they went over the 30 minute setup, they touch three times so a 180second operation time was done, they had 2 electrical timers for more than 10 seconds; they had water coming out of the device; one of their dimensions went over 60cm and only the start task and one other task counted. They had so many penalties that their score was negative.) So the bare minimum team beat them. The no show score was 48. This bare-minimum team got 24th. So their team already got 24 placement points BETTER than not showing up. ...and the team that got NEGATIVE points? Well, they got 25th which is still 23 points better than not showing up at all...


So PLEASE, show up. Do a little bit more than the bare minimum. Try at least the start task, a middle action, and the final and you'd be all right. MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR GOGGLES!!! Make sure the ping pong ball DOES NOT leave the machine. Even with the bare minimum, you might get a position above a team that gets tiered or messes up badly.

[trdd]

Do it!

[PM2017]

A ping pong ball leaving the device actually cost me a gold earlier this season. (BTW, I only had a functional start and final task at that point in time.)

[samy-oak-tree]

Thanks everyone! We ended up being the only team to submit and won gold

[terence.tan]

Thanks everyone! We ended up being the only team to submit and won gold

Yayayay congrats! Lol

[trdd]

Thanks everyone! We ended up being the only team to submit and won gold

WOW. That competition was tough!!!

Good that you DID show up. Gold is gold!