Hovercraft B/C

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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

HCCoach wrote:Our team is first timer at SO and besides topic titles I have no idea what to tell the 6th graders as being expected on the test. I am not a teacher by profession either - so its hard to judge the level of complexity.

What is general level of the questions?
How advanced is the test?
Do we study at a high school level or more of middle school level?
Are there mathematical problems to solve in the test?

*Chalker, could you please comment on resources/materials where I could research with.

Thanks!
SPP gave a good answer. I'll expand on it by saying there will be something like 350+ tournaments this year, all over the country. There isn't any secret event supervisor manual or test bank - each supervisor has access to the same rules as the competitors and creates their own test in their own style. The test exchange and wiki on this website are good resources for any event, as is the event specific page on the soinc.org website.

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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by antoine_ego »

chalker wrote:The test exchange and wiki on this website are good resources for any event...
There are unfortunately no tests on the text exchange for hovercraft. :(
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[b]2016 Air Trajectory Nationals - 3rd
2018 Hovercraft Nationals - 6th
2018 Mousetrap Nationals - 6th
2018 Nationals - Team 9th Place!
2019 Astronomy Nationals - 3rd!
2019 Nationals - Team 9th Place!
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by andrewp »

I have a bit of a dumb question.... I assume that we don't have to protect the underside of the hovercraft from people trying to probe the "lift fan" from underneath inside its skirt, just anything that is exposed on top of the hovercraft?

Cheers,

Andrew
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by HandsFreeCookieDunk »

andrewp wrote:I have a bit of a dumb question.... I assume that we don't have to protect the underside of the hovercraft from people trying to probe the "lift fan" from underneath inside its skirt, just anything that is exposed on top of the hovercraft?

Cheers,

Andrew
Not a dumb question at all, since I think there was another question about 4e. earlier in the year. The rule isn't particularly specific about how exactly the ES can try to access the fans with the dowel, so I'd say err on the side of caution if possible since I think it shouldn't be too hard to employ a skirt without a 1/4" hole in it.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by Flavorflav »

In a wall skirt the entire bottom is open. Anybody want to weigh in on whether we have to screen the outlet if we are using a wall skirt design? Honestly, I hadn't thought of that before.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by RJohnson »

HandsFreeCookieDunk wrote:
andrewp wrote:I have a bit of a dumb question.... I assume that we don't have to protect the underside of the hovercraft from people trying to probe the "lift fan" from underneath inside its skirt, just anything that is exposed on top of the hovercraft?

Cheers,

Andrew
Not a dumb question at all, since I think there was another question about 4e. earlier in the year. The rule isn't particularly specific about how exactly the ES can try to access the fans with the dowel, so I'd say err on the side of caution if possible since I think it shouldn't be too hard to employ a skirt without a 1/4" hole in it.
I had an ES pick up my craft and DQ my device because I didn't have shielding on the bottom... Not a great experience. I would put it there. Also, from that experience, always tell the ES that you are more than willing to move your device for them but ask that they not touch it.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by JonB »

RJohnson wrote:
HandsFreeCookieDunk wrote:
andrewp wrote:I have a bit of a dumb question.... I assume that we don't have to protect the underside of the hovercraft from people trying to probe the "lift fan" from underneath inside its skirt, just anything that is exposed on top of the hovercraft?

Cheers,

Andrew
Not a dumb question at all, since I think there was another question about 4e. earlier in the year. The rule isn't particularly specific about how exactly the ES can try to access the fans with the dowel, so I'd say err on the side of caution if possible since I think it shouldn't be too hard to employ a skirt without a 1/4" hole in it.
I had an ES pick up my craft and DQ my device because I didn't have shielding on the bottom... Not a great experience. I would put it there. Also, from that experience, always tell the ES that you are more than willing to move your device for them but ask that they not touch it.
Really? Wow, that's.... rough. I do not think that was the original intent of that rule but I can't speak officially of course.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by SPP SciO »

I think it's reasonable to have the bottom of the craft shielded, if there's a moving propeller there. The goal is to prevent finger injuries if the vehicle is picked up in a clumsy way with the fan moving. So, if it's possible to nick a finger, it needs some shielding. On the other hand, if the skirt is plastic with lots of little perforations, I would hate to think a supervisor would go forcing a dowel up through the skirt, causing damage in the process.

As always, better to err on the side of caution. Also, if I were an event supervisor, I'd do the safety check at impound, so if there is an issue, the students would have at least a few minutes of time to take steps necessary for compliance.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by HandsFreeCookieDunk »

So.... I'm pretty sure most people will think this is a stupid question, but the rules specify the dowel's height "above the lowest vehicle surface". Isn't the lowest surface of the vehicle the part that runs on the track? (In which case why didn't they just say above the track?) I know that sounds wrong, but it also seems odd to me that it would refer to the upper surface of the vehicle when it says the lowest surface.
And yes, I'm aware that this is not the place for official clarifications, I'm just looking for someone to tell me why I'm not seeing this right.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

HandsFreeCookieDunk wrote:So.... I'm pretty sure most people will think this is a stupid question, but the rules specify the dowel's height "above the lowest vehicle surface". Isn't the lowest surface of the vehicle the part that runs on the track? (In which case why didn't they just say above the track?) I know that sounds wrong, but it also seems odd to me that it would refer to the upper surface of the vehicle when it says the lowest surface.
And yes, I'm aware that this is not the place for official clarifications, I'm just looking for someone to tell me why I'm not seeing this right.
Technically, if the hovercraft levitates without a skirt, the 'lowest vehicle surface' is going to be a few mms ABOVE the track surface when in operation.

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