2017 Event Questions

[AstroJens]

Hey everyone, so the good news was I got 9th for Wright Stuff at Florida States. Bad news is that I got over 2 mins when I was testing but only 36 seconds at the competition and first place got like 1:50 minutes at the competition, so maybe if I was more prepared I could've got 1st.

So my question is, is there a way to know the events for the 2017 regionals? I know that Wright Stuff is being replaced with Helicopter right? When does the Science Olympiad website list the next events? I want to be better prepared.

Thanks

[dcrxcode]

There is already a tentative event list https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MtP ... EB2XM/edit posted by John Richardsim. Regionals' events are decided by your specific regional and state organization, so I have no clue when that will be posted. Since I compete in Indiana, most (all?) of the regionals run all 23 events, so we don't have that specific problem of which events will be run at regionals.

Sorry to hear about your plane - our team lost our top plane in the permanent netting in the 72' indoor football practice facility we were flying at during states and our time decreased to 2:10 instead of the 2:52 we were originally flying at - it sucked too.

Good luck next year!

[watermydoing14]

You could try to buy a helicopter kit made for a previous year's rules and start learning the principles of building a helicopter so that when you get the rules-compliant kit for next year, you're already a step ahead.

[AstroJens]

Thank you to everyone that replied, thank you @dcrxcode for that list! How accurate is that list? I know it is a tentative list, but is it based on previous year rotations? I don't want to practice for electric vehicle but it end up being replaced for something else.

Thanks however

[Person]

Thank you to everyone that replied, thank you @dcrxcode for that list! How accurate is that list? I know it is a tentative list, but is it based on previous year rotations? I don't want to practice for electric vehicle but it end up being replaced for something else.

Thanks however

If I remember correctly, it is based off of the Science Olympiad Summer Institute schedule.

[jander14indoor]

The event list is agreed at the national meeting after the national tournament in May. BUT, it can change between then and the official rules release in Sept, partly as a result of feedback at the summer institute.
Generally the list of events doesn't change after the May meeting (though it has on occasion), but details of rules often change.

The rotation lists are updated every year, and can't be fully trusted as new events are introduced that mess up the planned rotation.
Some rotations are fairly stable:
- Bridge, Tower, Boom
- WS, ELG, Helicopters (though there is some desire to use a power source besides rubber)
- Wheeled vehicles, not so much as there is a desire to include new technologies, but the principals that make good vehicles apply across most of the variatons
- Robot Arm and Robo Cross, but there is some desire to add a third variation
- catapult variations, again change to introduce different energy storage methods
I mention those I know best as part of the Tech committee. And even the most stable can get shakeups now and then.

For those trying to prepare for next year, focus on fundamentals, not rule driven details.
Build ANY structure to min weight vs load capacity and you'll learn things transferable to any rules we release in the fall.
Build any light weight flying thing, and again you'll have transferable skills
Understand what makes any robot better, transfer
etc...

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[Unome]

Thank you to everyone that replied, thank you @dcrxcode for that list! How accurate is that list? I know it is a tentative list, but is it based on previous year rotations? I don't want to practice for electric vehicle but it end up being replaced for something else.

Thanks however

Electric Vehicle will almost definitely stay next year; it's incredibly rare for an event to rotate out after just one year.