PICTURES, SCORES, VIDEOS!!!

[M017]

This is completely mathematical, but I found a tower design that is possible 4000 score with bonus, using Balsa Man's formulas for BS and interval length

Congrats! You've spent time on the right side of the tower world but applying reality to theory is... difficult. I had a theoretical 4389 tower that scored 1600... you can imagine my disappointment. But having those mathematical parts figured out allowed me to continually increase my score. Best of luck!

Yeah, the sad thing about my towers is that my math is always around 500 better than I end up getting lol.

That makes sense because the math is saying everything is absolutely perfect

[cheese]

Congrats! You've spent time on the right side of the tower world but applying reality to theory is... difficult. I had a theoretical 4389 tower that scored 1600... you can imagine my disappointment. But having those mathematical parts figured out allowed me to continually increase my score. Best of luck!

Yeah, the sad thing about my towers is that my math is always around 500 better than I end up getting lol.

That makes sense because the math is saying everything is absolutely perfect

Yeah, and of course my towers aren't perfect!
I usually math out for a 2700-3200 score tower, been averaging low 2000's

[MadCow2357]

1st tower - 16.5 grams, 6.5 kg + 5 kg = 696.6

2nd tower - 13 grams, held 10.8 kg + 5kg = 1215.3

3rd tower - 20.2 grams, held 15 kg + 5 kg = 990

The first tower was square base, built it in 2 parts and it broke in the middle. First ever tower.

Second was rectangular (29*5 cm), two sides laced together on cruddy jig. Enough to medal at states (RI is not competitive at all.)

Third was also rectangular (29*5 cm), same building method. Used all high density Balsa wood, hoped to hold all 15 kg. It did, and is still intact. Is now backup tower.

I'm kind of a rookie compared to you elite people, but these are still some disappointing scores.

[cheese]

Remember, it is not all about holding all 15. If you have a 15g that holds everything, it could be worse than a 4 gram tower with bonus holding almost nothing.

[DarthBuilder]

Any score reports from any state competitions?

[sciolycats]

Does anyone have any basic design tips? I'm using bracing type P1 from the Wikipedia, consistently getting scores of ~1400 but, of course, I would like to be around 2,000. 3 sets on the top half and 3 on the bottom half.

Double the bracing and reduce the column weight.

By column weight, do you mean the thicker, usually 1/8x1/8 structural pieces? If so, how do you suggest reducing the column weight? (shortening the columns is not an option because of the height minimum)

[dholdgreve]

Does anyone have any basic design tips? I'm using bracing type P1 from the Wikipedia, consistently getting scores of ~1400 but, of course, I would like to be around 2,000. 3 sets on the top half and 3 on the bottom half.

Double the bracing and reduce the column weight.

By column weight, do you mean the thicker, usually 1/8x1/8 structural pieces? If so, how do you suggest reducing the column weight? (shortening the columns is not an option because of the height minimum)

We've bought 1/8" x 1/8" balsa in both 36" and 48" lengths. The first thing we do when an order comes in is to cut the balsa into 12" lengths... We can do this, because we are Div B, and both top and bottom columns can be created from 12" blanks. We then go through and weigh each piece and sort them. 12" balsa blanks can weigh anywhere from .19 grams to well over 3 grams each. Same size, different weights. Next, we will determine the general weight of the columns we want to use, then do the Single Finger Push Down test on each piece. We don't do the SFPD test until the stock is cut into 12" blocks because we want the results to be specific to that piece of material... not the 2 or 3 adjacent pieces. If you find pieces that have a SFPD of 300 grams, you may be able to design a tower with only 3 or 4 tiers of bracing. If you find pieces that have a SFPD test of 200 grams, you may want to up to 8 tiers of bracing. Logically, as you add tiers of bracing, the distance between connections (nodes) is reduced. The more bracing tiers, the less "unsupported column length" there is between nodes.

The whole trick to this competition is to find the most efficient combination of column density and the number of tiers of bracing it takes to support them. This takes hours and hours of testing, and several dozen towers built with very carefully documented material used and results. Sure... you might get lucky... but can you repeat it?

[emilyshangg]

Hey, I saw a few people talk about a formula that can calculate your score that Balsa Man (may he rest in peace) posted or mentioned? I've gone through the forum and can't seem to find it...
Thanks!

[StormTJ]

Any predictions for a placing score at nationals in division C?

[jinhusong]

Hey, I saw a few people talk about a formula that can calculate your score that Balsa Man (may he rest in peace) posted or mentioned? I've gone through the forum and can't seem to find it...
Thanks!

The score is simple, just the (weight the tower can hold + bonus if any) / weight of tower.

Maybe you are talking about the spreadsheet about leg strength and intervals for all X bracing?