Hovercraft B/C

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Adi1008
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by Adi1008 »

0ddrenaline wrote:
kenniky wrote:
0ddrenaline wrote: This year, teams can do one run that has a high mass score but a bad time score. Then, they can remove the mass and shoot for a good time score. They can then use the best part of each. After reading the old rules, I don't believe that was allowed last year.
Is it not? Because we 100% did that at MIT
I guess it's vague. I stand by my position but I could be wrong. At least the intentions are very clear this year.
I believe that last year chalker specified that they could be from different runs. A lot of tournaments didn't follow that, however, so it's nice to see that it's a lot clearer this year.
0ddrenaline wrote:Old: If teams miss impound, their mass score will be multiplied by 0.7
New: If teams impound their device, 3 points will be added to their final score.
I could be wrong, but I think that in order to run the device, you have to impound it; the 3 extra points come only if you specifically put your device in a labelled box when you impound. If you impound it without a labelled box then you'd still be able to run the device but you wouldn't get these points.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by dragonfruit35 »

antoine_ego wrote:It seems that diodes are not allowed, so would that also apply to LEDs (could be useful for safety purposes)?
Well, LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes, and they're not on the list of allowed components, so I'd assume so. Kind of an odd thing to prohibit, though.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by Tesel »

So for division B it seems the only determining factor will be the track surface, given the fixed distance and time... interesting.
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by cuber »

I understand the lithium battery ban from a safety point of view, but this is super inconveniencing for me. The only way I was able to get our hovercraft running last year was with lithium batteries, anything else did not have enough power to lift it's own weight. I ended up buying quite a few, as well as a decent balance charger, and now the team has no use for them this year. Any ideas on good batteries that fit the requirements?
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by antoine_ego »

cuber wrote:I understand the lithium battery ban from a safety point of view, but this is super inconveniencing for me. The only way I was able to get our hovercraft running last year was with lithium batteries, anything else did not have enough power to lift it's own weight. I ended up buying quite a few, as well as a decent balance charger, and now the team has no use for them this year. Any ideas on good batteries that fit the requirements?
I am a personal fan of NiMH batteries. They are substantially heavier than the LiPOs, but are probably the best option. I use Racer's Edge batteries, but I've heard good things about Traxxas batteries as well. It's definitely a good idea to get a smart charger, meaning it'll automatically shut off once the battery is full if you plan to reuse batteries.

The nice thing about NiMH is that you can overcharge them legally, because they must be <9.0V by labels. So you can have a 9.5V - 10.0V battery and still be within the rules. The issue there is that you risk damaging the battery, so I'd cycle them every once in a while. You seem to be worried about it lifting its own weight. Note that you have 33% more surface to work with, and with the added voltage of the NiMH, you ought to easily be able to hold everything :)
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

Adi1008 wrote:
0ddrenaline wrote:
kenniky wrote: Is it not? Because we 100% did that at MIT
I guess it's vague. I stand by my position but I could be wrong. At least the intentions are very clear this year.
I believe that last year chalker specified that they could be from different runs. A lot of tournaments didn't follow that, however, so it's nice to see that it's a lot clearer this year.
0ddrenaline wrote:Old: If teams miss impound, their mass score will be multiplied by 0.7
New: If teams impound their device, 3 points will be added to their final score.
I could be wrong, but I think that in order to run the device, you have to impound it; the 3 extra points come only if you specifically put your device in a labelled box when you impound. If you impound it without a labelled box then you'd still be able to run the device but you wouldn't get these points.
Correct on both accounts.

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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

Zioly wrote:Nooo... my "tape a textbook into my notes binder so it doesn't fall out" strategy is a no-go this year! Slightly disappointed, but it's good to see that the rules committee thought to patch this loophole. Anyone else use this last year too?

EDIT: Realistically though, the textbook didn't help much at all in competition, since it takes so long to extract the needed information during a test.
There are some pretty obvious ways you could still incorporate a whole textbook in a binder per the rules if you think about it a bit....

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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

antoine_ego wrote:It seems that diodes are not allowed, so would that also apply to LEDs (could be useful for safety purposes)?
How would an LED be used for a safety purpose?

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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by Person »

chalker wrote:
antoine_ego wrote:It seems that diodes are not allowed, so would that also apply to LEDs (could be useful for safety purposes)?
How would an LED be used for a safety purpose?
This is just a guess, but maybe they were used as warning lights of sorts to make it easier to see the vehicle?
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Re: Hovercraft B/C

Post by chalker »

dragonfruit35 wrote:
antoine_ego wrote:It seems that diodes are not allowed, so would that also apply to LEDs (could be useful for safety purposes)?
Well, LEDs are Light Emitting Diodes, and they're not on the list of allowed components, so I'd assume so. Kind of an odd thing to prohibit, though.
We really don't want any type of electronic circuits controlling the vehicles. It's technically possible to make some very sophisticated timing controllers using nothing but diodes (or LEDs if you were creative).

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