Wheeled Vehicle

Wheeled Vehicle is a physics event in which the participants must construct a vehicle powered only by a non-metallic elastic device. The Participants must be able to adjust the vehicle to travel a specified distance as chosen by the event supervisor and also be able to predict the time in which the vehicle will reach its defined destination.

Basic Construction Parameters
=2005-2006= The vehicle should be designed to travel between 5 and 10 meters and stay inside a 1.5 meter wide lane.

The calibration intervals include: Regionals: 0.5 meters States: 10cm Nationals: 1cm

The vehicle must also be only powered by the energy stored in the elastic solid device and must be triggered by actuating a release mechanism with a pencil, dowel ,etc.

Designs
The most popular forms of energy used to power vehicles are:
 * 1) rubber bands
 * 2) fishing poles
 * 3) bungee cords

You also will need a braking mechanism, so you can accurately stop. Here are some things to think about:
 * 1) It has got to be accurate
 * 2) Somewhat simple so that there's not a whole lot of room for error
 * 3) It has to be very reliable, so that it will work perfectly every time.

Competition
You must wear goggles in order to compete, and you may also bring any tools or computing device to assist you in calculating distance/time, since you must predict how long your vehicle will take to travel down the track. Your vehicle must be impounded before competition starts and they will not announce the target distance until the last vehicle is impounded. The competition should be in a 1.5 m wide lane and will be on a relatively smooth level corridor. Before you run your vehicle you will be asked to predict your vehicle's travel time. You are not allowed to change your prediction for the second run. You will have a total of 10 minutes to run your vehicle. At the judges signal only will you trigger your release mechanism.

Helpful Links
http://www.soinc.org/events/wheeledveh

http://www.tx.ncsu.edu/science_olympiad/Event_information/Wheeled_vehicle/wheeled_vehicle.htm

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