Gravity Vehicle C

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mrsteven
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by mrsteven »

I think that is actually a very fair call, you should read the rules very carefully to ensure everything going into your car is legal.
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by iwonder »

I agree with MrSteven, it sounds like they were just enforcing the rules. I was there yesterday, actually, and I think they did a very good job with gravity vehicle, after the initial problem with impound and some confusion with a bad tape measure(it read that our ramp was 77cm becuase it didn't have a 0 mark). In the future I would suggest very careful study of the rules so this doesn't happen again.

Oh, and we don't know places yet, but if you're interested...
Target distance: 32mm
Time: 5.75
Predicted time: 4.4
Height: 30cm
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by lmatkovic3 »

That's a huge difference between predicted time and actual time...
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by iwonder »

Yeah... I'm not quite sure why. I actually switched the predicted and actual by the way. Chances are that it had to do with the surface, we had to test on industrial carpet but the event was run on gym floors. We have really hard wheels so I'm not sure I'm buying it..
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by jacobxc »

The issue was that after our 2 runs the the judge decided we had a construction violation, not during impound or at the beginning of our runs. Several other teams had a construction violation during impound, but were allowed to fix the issue, we were not. Those are the 2 grounds my team has, unfairness and the fact that it already passed impound. So if anyone thinks theirs is the outermost point of their car and surpass this vague rule tell me how you did it.
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by iwonder »

It's not too vague... It's the outermost part of the car... Like, on the far side of the vehicle. I just drilled a hole on the edge of my vehicle and stuck a paperclip in it. Did you at least protest the ruling?
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by Cheese_Muffin_Man »

iwonder wrote:I agree with MrSteven, it sounds like they were just enforcing the rules. I was there yesterday, actually, and I think they did a very good job with gravity vehicle, after the initial problem with impound and some confusion with a bad tape measure(it read that our ramp was 77cm becuase it didn't have a 0 mark). In the future I would suggest very careful study of the rules so this doesn't happen again.

Oh, and we don't know places yet, but if you're interested...
Target distance: 32mm
Time: 5.75
Predicted time: 4.4
Height: 30cm
How far did you have to go?
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by iwonder »

6.5m
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by jacobxc »

Cheese_Muffin_Man wrote:
iwonder wrote:I agree with MrSteven, it sounds like they were just enforcing the rules. I was there yesterday, actually, and I think they did a very good job with gravity vehicle, after the initial problem with impound and some confusion with a bad tape measure(it read that our ramp was 77cm becuase it didn't have a 0 mark). In the future I would suggest very careful study of the rules so this doesn't happen again.

Oh, and we don't know places yet, but if you're interested...
Target distance: 32mm
Time: 5.75
Predicted time: 4.4
Height: 30cm
How far did you have to go?
6.5 meters
Real atheletes run miles not yards
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Re: Gravity Vehicle C

Post by Stingray355 »

I would like to keep my comments as general rather than an opinion on your device. Without a photo of the actual device it is difficult to know what it looks like.

I think we all prefer to see these competitions decided by the results , not by a judgement call. That said judgement calls are a necessary part of these events and are often tough for the judges as well as the competitors.
First of all we try to build well inside of the spec to allow for differences in measuring tools and techniques. If the rules say we can build to 75 cm we build to 74 or maybe less. Our Gravity Vehicle weighs 1494 grams and we have two small weights that can be easily removed in case we still end up being "overweight" on the official scale.

Second if we have something on our device that we think might come into question ( not always easy to anticipate) we take the device and the rules to the head coach prior to the tournament and discuss the rules and why we think we are in compliance. If we all don't agree we make the changes before the tournament

Third , if we need to challenge a call we have the head coach , very calmly and respectfully, ask the judge to review the highlighted copy of the rules we have with us at all times and after they have had a chance to review them the coach will offer our interpretation.
This has served us well and while we have not had a 100% success rate we have always felt that we did our best to get a fair shake for not only our own team but the other teams that may be impacted by the same call.
These volunteers have a tough job.
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