Scores B/C

[lukas]

Do you know if the testing apparatus at the MIT invitational was automatic or did they manually load the bucket using cups?

[KayHill]

Do you know if the testing apparatus at the MIT invitational was automatic or did they manually load the bucket using cups?

They used buckets and cups, but there was a choice between loading either sand and ball-bearings.

[DoctaDave]

Do you know if the testing apparatus at the MIT invitational was automatic or did they manually load the bucket using cups?

They used buckets and cups, but there was a choice between loading either sand and ball-bearings.

Hmmm I've never seen ball bearings being used as the load before. Is there any advantage to using ball bearings over sand other than being easier to clean up?

[chalker]

Do you know if the testing apparatus at the MIT invitational was automatic or did they manually load the bucket using cups?

They used buckets and cups, but there was a choice between loading either sand and ball-bearings.

Hmmm I've never seen ball bearings being used as the load before. Is there any advantage to using ball bearings over sand other than being easier to clean up?

They are denser. Hence you can get up to full weight faster, with the hope that your bridge lasts long enough to be declared holding the full weight before deforming / breaking.

[dholdgreve]

Just out of curiosity, what size are the bearings?

[KayHill]

Just out of curiosity, what size are the bearings?

They are extremely small, perhaps 1-2cm in diameter if I had to guess.

[dholdgreve]

Just out of curiosity, what size are the bearings?

They are extremely small, perhaps 1-2cm in diameter if I had to guess.

CM? That would be like 1/2" to 1" in diameter, right?

[chinesesushi]

Our team opted to use sand under the knowledge that the sand was finer. And also, it seems like they were using some really light ball bearing because they seemed to load slower with ball bearings than sand.

[iwonder]

Our team opted to use sand under the knowledge that the sand was finer. And also, it seems like they were using some really light ball bearing because they seemed to load slower with ball bearings than sand.

Are you sure it wasn't just people freaking out about noise of ball bearings hitting the bottom and actually pouring them slower? Even the low density steel and the worst packing ratio is still more dense than sand.

[KayHill]

Just out of curiosity, what size are the bearings?

They are extremely small, perhaps 1-2cm in diameter if I had to guess.

CM? That would be like 1/2" to 1" in diameter, right?

I apologize I mistyped, I meant mm, not cm. My team chose to use ball bearings and we actually found them easier, but we noticed multiple teams before us had a harder time balancing the bucket with the ball bearings so unless you know you can load well I would not recommend them.