It's About Time C

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Re: It's About Time C

Post by RandomPerson »

Hmm, this event intrigues me, other than the pendulum mentioned, what have you guys seen used to keep track of time?

And in general, how hard did you find the written portion of the event?
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by wlsguy »

Our team used a sand timer that was exceptionally accurate. ( I know, they aren't normally very good. Ours was).

I think 85% of teams used a typical pendulum. Others used more exotic devices.
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by Paradox21 »

RandomPerson52 wrote:Hmm, this event intrigues me, other than the pendulum mentioned, what have you guys seen used to keep track of time?

And in general, how hard did you find the written portion of the event?
I think the 3 obvious types are pendulum clocks, sand clocks, and water clocks. Then I have seem some rather ridiculous ones like corn clocks and ramps with a ball bearing etc. If you are going to use any type of funnel -like clock (water sand) it is best to have as small a particle size as possible and ensure that it is as clean as possible. Not only does creating a mess potentially trigger a penalty, but it will massively reduce your accuracy and consistency.

I think that the tests vary quite a bit. At and below the state level the tests were painfully easy for me. I think our state test had about 8 questions. But the national test was very thourough and well-made.
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by RandomPerson »

wlsguy wrote:Our team used a sand timer that was exceptionally accurate. ( I know, they aren't normally very good. Ours was).

I think 85% of teams used a typical pendulum. Others used more exotic devices.
Paradox21 wrote: I think the 3 obvious types are pendulum clocks, sand clocks, and water clocks. Then I have seem some rather ridiculous ones like corn clocks and ramps with a ball bearing etc. If you are going to use any type of funnel -like clock (water sand) it is best to have as small a particle size as possible and ensure that it is as clean as possible. Not only does creating a mess potentially trigger a penalty, but it will massively reduce your accuracy and consistency.

I think that the tests vary quite a bit. At and below the state level the tests were painfully easy for me. I think our state test had about 8 questions. But the national test was very thourough and well-made.
Yeah, out of all of those, making a pendulum clock does seem the most reliable and easiest, thanks both of you.

What worries me is making something that's very accurate, how precise do these devices have to be, (like nearest second, nearest half second, nearest tenth)?
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by Paradox21 »

RandomPerson52 wrote:
What worries me is making something that's very accurate, how precise do these devices have to be, (like nearest second, nearest half second, nearest tenth)?
last year you had to go to the nearest 10th of a second. I am pretty sure this year will be the same.
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by stormking »

can anyone post their pictures of their clocks?
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by Paradox21 »

Ours sort of got destroyed on the trip home from nationals (but it's better than having it messed up on the way there) and we never bothered to take pictures because it is such a simple design. It was a box, about 1.5 feet tall with a pendulum in it. Believe it or not, we were approaching perfect scores with it. I intend to make a new one once I get a look at the new rules that will hopefully add a bit more consistency (and durability). I will post some pictures if it ends up being any good.
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by RandomPerson »

So essentially you just put a pendulum on a joint and make it swing back and forth, and prior to the event you have to figure out how many seconds each swing takes?
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by Paradox21 »

RandomPerson52 wrote:So essentially you just put a pendulum on a joint and make it swing back and forth, and prior to the event you have to figure out how many seconds each swing takes?
The key is calibration.
Or maybe the key is consistency. You have to take into account changes in temperature, humidity, etc.
They are both key.
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Re: It's About Time C

Post by Flavorflav »

I suppose it would depend on your design, but I think temperature and humidity wouldn't have a significant impact on many devices.
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