Rotor Egg Drop B

[jander14indoor]

Plastic shopping bags and produce bags. Look for the lightest you can find of course. Collect samples from many stores, weight say a 10 inch by 10 inch piece of each and compare. Note, since weight isn't an important characteristic to shopping bags, don't assume that the nice light bag from store A will be nice and light next time you go back, and vice versa.

Some of the light bags I've found are those generic "Thank you" bags from small stores and the clear produce bags from grocery stores.

Good Luck

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[helicpters_rule]

Plastic shopping bags and produce bags. Look for the lightest you can find of course. Collect samples from many stores, weight say a 10 inch by 10 inch piece of each and compare. Note, since weight isn't an important characteristic to shopping bags, don't assume that the nice light bag from store A will be nice and light next time you go back, and vice versa.

Some of the light bags I've found are those generic "Thank you" bags from small stores and the clear produce bags from grocery stores.

Good Luck

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

What is the best weight you have found or what is a good weight.

[helicpters_rule]

im confuzzled, can we use a cup?

Yes, u MUST use a cup, the one that they give you and also use the bag they give you so you put the egg in the bag and the bag in the cup.

[Beastybob12345]

Just a thought, what is everyone using to make their blades? The lightest material I've found are those carbon wires and balsa wood. I'm currently using balsa wood. Any other lighter materials?

[Type]

My team made an egg drop using paper to build a pin wheel about. It went down fast but is good to whip together in about an hour or 2. It got 2nd place in my division last year.... We just put a hole in the pin wheel and put it on a stick with washer to keep it in an area. Still meets 2013 rules.

[Type]

Hello to all,

Just out of shear curiosity and for the mortal well being of my egg, do the rotors during the 2013-2014 Science Olympiad competition have to spin on its' and axis' or does the axis have to spin along with the rotor?

From what I know, it must spin around the central axis, as in the rotar is freely sitting on it and can spin without spinning the whole device. I'm not sure if it is against the rules if the axis ends up spinning too, someone else may know.

[NASA123]

It does not matter actually. As long as the device rotates, it should be fine. It is much more efficient for the rotors to be separated from the egg because it takes a lot more torque to spin the egg around with the device. Also, I have a queation for all of you guys. On this years rules sheet, it says the entire device must fit inside a 51cm x 51cm x 51cm cube in any orientation. Does this mean we can build devices with wingspans over 51cm, as long as it fits in the cube? Is anyone else having trouble with this rule as well?

[ckssv07]

What times have people been getting with the new dimensions so far?

[Adi1008]

It does not matter actually. As long as the device rotates, it should be fine. It is much more efficient for the rotors to be separated from the egg because it takes a lot more torque to spin the egg around with the device. Also, I have a queation for all of you guys. On this years rules sheet, it says the entire device must fit inside a 51cm x 51cm x 51cm cube in any orientation. Does this mean we can build devices with wingspans over 51cm, as long as it fits in the cube? Is anyone else having trouble with this rule as well?

To me, this rule seems pretty clear. Last year, the rotors had to parallel to any one of the sides of the cubes. This year, as long as it would fit inside the 51 centimeter cube, it should be fine. It can be positioned diagonally, 45 degrees to any one of the sides of the cubes, etc. However, this may not be as beneficial as many people may think. The rules also state the device has to fit inside the 51 centimeter cube in launch, and in flying configuration. If you launch your device 45 degrees to the horizontal/floor, I seriously doubt that it would be stable throughout the entire flight (unless some sort of stabilizing mechanism is used, or the rotors are spinning independently to the egg), leading to the possibility that the cup/egg may land on the side if it is being suspended by strings, pieces of wood, etc. Given that the most fragile part of an egg is its side, I do not think that would be ideal. Even worse, the device may wobble so much that the rotors would touch the floor first, resulting in tier three. I went to nationals, and this happened to a lot of schools there.

What times have people been getting with the new dimensions so far?

I've been to two invitationals so far this year, and I haven't changed much in terms of the size of the device in comparison to my devices last year, due to the reasons stated before in this post and my own experience (I did it last year twice). When dropped from about 5.5 meters, it got 2.9-3.1 seconds in tier one. I live in Texas, the same state as Riverwood, so getting first in Rotor Egg Drop is a bit tough considering that they are the reigning national champions. However, I have gotten second place multiple times to them.

In regards to what is considered as a parachute, I think it is up to the event supervisor to decide.

[abiagealb]

does anyone know a good way to attach the cup to the rotor device?