Mission Possible C

[KSSOISLIT]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

[ScottMaurer19]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

I'm going to say no because you have more than one battery. Thats just how I interpreted the rule

[Northridge]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

So long as all of your electrical steps go back to this one "source," I think you would be fine. The rules do not say one battery, they say one source. That is at least how I would interpret it.

[radioactivated]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

So long as all of your electrical steps go back to this one "source," I think you would be fine. The rules do not say one battery, they say one source. That is at least how I would interpret it.

This is especially a good interpretation considering that most NiMH "batteries" are actually packs consisting of six or seven (or some number) of individual cells, wired together.

[ScottMaurer19]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

So long as all of your electrical steps go back to this one "source," I think you would be fine. The rules do not say one battery, they say one source. That is at least how I would interpret it.

This is especially a good interpretation considering that most NiMH "batteries" are actually packs consisting of six or seven (or some number) of individual cells, wired together.

As I think I said way back toward the start of the season, I beleive the difference between having several NiMH batteries hooked together as one source vs having a commercially made "battery" composed made of individual cells wired together is that (like Lith-ion/LiPo batteries supposedly) there is a higher risk of some construction error in a student built "source" instead a commercially available "source". Again this is simply one of the ways I would justify my interpretation but I am open to other views.

[nicholasmaurer]

If I wire two four AA battery holders in parallel, would it still count as one battery source?

So long as all of your electrical steps go back to this one "source," I think you would be fine. The rules do not say one battery, they say one source. That is at least how I would interpret it.

This is especially a good interpretation considering that most NiMH "batteries" are actually packs consisting of six or seven (or some number) of individual cells, wired together.

This sounds like an FAQ to me. Without clarification, your safest option remains a power source commercially sold as a "single battery" (even though it may have many cells).

[Mohamad]

Need rules clarification please:
Are you allowed to start and end every action with electricity?
Also each action can have only one microcontroller, but there is no limit on the total number of microcontrollers?

[Ash123]

I'm not entirely sure your question. I think the gist of the timer task is you can designate a single task in your device (which can be a scorable action, or something that does not score but is not a violation by being parallel or dead end) to receive bonus points as a timer. The task cannot be powered by a spring or electricity (no task over 10s can). For example, if you had a one minute sand timer, that would count as 60s of a mechanical timer. The 30s is from the start of the timer, so in my example, the 30s requirement would be met because the timer would last 30+s from when you flipped it. It can be at any point in the sequence of the tasks, after the start task but before the final task.

I see what you're saying. So it's not a sequence of actions but one single action that takes more than 30 seconds right? Do we get points if we have multiple ones like that? Thanks

Well, the rules say that we designate an action to act as the chemical clock (see rule 4.g.) This means that only one such action gives bonus points.

If we just had a chemical reaction and that reaction somehow started the next part of the sequence (like filling up a balloon that knocks something over), would that count as a chemical timer?

[ScottMaurer19]

I see what you're saying. So it's not a sequence of actions but one single action that takes more than 30 seconds right? Do we get points if we have multiple ones like that? Thanks

Well, the rules say that we designate an action to act as the chemical clock (see rule 4.g.) This means that only one such action gives bonus points.

If we just had a chemical reaction and that reaction somehow started the next part of the sequence (like filling up a balloon that knocks something over), would that count as a chemical timer?

Assuming it takes longer than 30 seconds you would get points for it being a chemical timer.

[Ashernoel]

I’m confused about the mechanical timing step. Does the start action have to initiate this? Does the timer have to be inside the device? Can we press it at the same time we pull the magnet?