It's About Time C

[elephantower]

i.e. aren't both unworkable? The only way to measure fractional period I've heard is to use an escapement so you have a constant amplitude (you still have to have killer reflexes).

My partner and I don't use an escapement on our device, and we can still get fractional swings close enough to get near perfect scores on our device.

How do you measure fractional swings -- with a protractor, or just guesswork? If the former, how do you stop damping without an escapement?

[misterstealyogirl]

The rules don't really specify but what kind of calculators are we allowed to use for the written portion of the event?

[bernard]

The rules don't really specify but what kind of calculators are we allowed to use for the written portion of the event?

General Rule #1: "Actions and items (e.g., tools, notes, resources, supplies, electronics, etc.) are permitted, unless they are explicitly excluded in the rules, are unsafe, or violate the spirit of the problem."

[misterstealyogirl]

The rules don't really specify but what kind of calculators are we allowed to use for the written portion of the event?

General Rule #1: "Actions and items (e.g., tools, notes, resources, supplies, electronics, etc.) are permitted, unless they are explicitly excluded in the rules, are unsafe, or violate the spirit of the problem."

Thanks!

[blakinator8]

It's kinda disappointing to see that there's no prize for the nats champ this year- looks like in the past, the winners got a trip to the NAWCC in Tennessee.

[mogrady]

My school is not going to Nats so my season is over. I was just wondering when next year's events come out and where i would find them. Also any predictions as to which events will remain? Will IAT remain?

[finagle29]

There's a topic in the General Chat called 2015-2016 Events where speculation is going on. Official event list comes out when the rules manuals are sent out in September. IAT will very likely remain as this is its first year in the rotation.

[bernard]

Here's the list with a link to it.

It's really not a huge secret or anything. Here's the current TENTATIVE list. Please keep in mind this is unofficial and subject to change in the coming months. In particular we sometimes get significant feedback at the rules committee meetings the day after Nationals that impact this:

Division B
Anatomy (Cardiovascular, Skeletal-Muscular & Aging)
Bio Process Lab
Disease Detectives (Pop.Growth)
Green Generation
Invasive Species
Dynamic Planet (Oceanography)
Fossils
Meteorology (Everyday Weather)
Reach for the Stars
Road Scholar
Air Trajectory
Crave the Wave
Wind Power
Crime Busters
Food Science
Elevated Bridge
Elastic Launched Glider
Mission Possible
Scrambler
Bottle Rocket
Experimental Design
Picture This
Write It Do It

Division C
Anatomy & Physiology (Cardiovascular, Skeletal-Muscular & Aging)
Cell Biology
Disease Detectives (Pop.Growth)
Green Generation
Invasive Species
Astronomy
Dynamic Planet (Oceanography)
Fossils
GeoLogic Mapping
Air Trajectory
It’s About Time
Wind Power
Chem Lab (Kinetics/Gas Laws)
Forensics
Protein Modeling
El/Bridge Building
Electric Vehicle
Robot Event
Wright Stuff
Experimental Design
Hydrogeology
Game On
Write It Do It

[jkang]

Quick question about the sound files. Does the time interval occur at the beginning or at the end of the starting and ending beeps? The duration of these beats seem to be longer than 0.1 seconds, so this could possibly affect the scoring of devices, and with tournaments like nationals coming up, each point can matter in determining place.

[chalker]

Quick question about the sound files. Does the time interval occur at the beginning or at the end of the starting and ending beeps? The duration of these beats seem to be longer than 0.1 seconds, so this could possibly affect the scoring of devices, and with tournaments like nationals coming up, each point can matter in determining place.

If you are referring to the sound files on the National website, there is a readme.txt file in the zip that answers your question:

Each audio file consists of the following:

1. An initial warning 'bell'
2. A short delay
3. Another warning 'bell'
4. A short delay
5. A start 'beep'
6. A precise delay equal to the time in the filename
7. A stop 'beep'

The time trial begins at the beginning of the start beep (step 5 above) and ends at the beginning of the stop beep (step 7).