Mousetrap Vehicle C

[cuber]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

[antoine_ego]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

[PM2017]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

Besides, the curve really isn't too much longer than the straight line distance. And curve is honestly much easier than the rack and pinion method cuber is talking about.

Still, a fun exercise in finding loopholes in rules. That's always fun.

[cuber]

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

With access to a 3d printer this is really not that difficult. I’ll report back next week in whether this is a successful tactic. And like i said, I’m in NY and there’s no chance of dethroning Fayettville Manlius or columbia so my only goal is 1st at states

[windu34]

i think that rule 3h just means that some parts of the device cant fall off, so if the dowel is still moving with the device it should be fine.

Thats what I was hoping. Im trying to find something that outlaws shifting the dowel after starting, and aside from the fact that it is not completely in the spirit of the event, I'm drawing a blank. This would make the event trivial, you would just need to retrofit a winning car from last year with 3 gears and a long enough rack atached to the dowel. You could have the teeth of the rack cut off after 10cm so the gears push it out on the way forward, but not on the way back.

I wouldn't call this trivial, so much as potentially doable. This would add a lot of weight to the vehicle, and especially at the National level, having a 50cm moving rack would be rather difficult to implement.

I do not think this is going to be accurate enough for strong performance at the national level. I also agree with Antoine that its going to be more difficult than perfecting a curved trajectory.

[asingh4688]

Is this rule of fitting within 40x40 cm a new rule, because last year I competed with a mousetrap vehicle that was about 43 cm in length and never got penalized. The CD wheels make it extend out a little past 40cm, but that portion is not touching the ground for 40 cm, so will I be ok?

[PM2017]

Is this rule of fitting within 40x40 cm a new rule, because last year I competed with a mousetrap vehicle that was about 43 cm in length and never got penalized. The CD wheels make it extend out a little past 40cm, but that portion is not touching the ground for 40 cm, so will I be ok?

Last year it was 50 x 50. Also, you can fit it in diagonally. However, the portion that is not touching the ground does indeed count as part of the wheel, so it must fit inside the 40 x 40 "box."

[dragonfruit35]

Is this rule of fitting within 40x40 cm a new rule, because last year I competed with a mousetrap vehicle that was about 43 cm in length and never got penalized. The CD wheels make it extend out a little past 40cm, but that portion is not touching the ground for 40 cm, so will I be ok?

Yes, the wheelbase rule has changed (I think it might have been 50x40 max dimensions before). Are you asking if you can use the same vehicle as last year? If so, that might not be in your best interest unless you know that it can be propelled for > 8m.

[BadSciOly-er]

I just want to make sure:
1) the wheels can be CD's
2) the wooden dowel perpindicular to the ground can be anywhere on the vehicle since it's just used as the vehicles singular location

[PM2017]

I just want to make sure:
1) the wheels can be CD's
2) the wooden dowel perpindicular to the ground can be anywhere on the vehicle since it's just used as the vehicles singular location

1. They can be, though they are better options.
2. It almost definitely has to be at the front of the vehicle, since the cup must be touching the dowel at the start, and since you want to drop the cup off, you can't have more things in front of it.