General Questions

[boomtech]

Is MP a 3 person event?

Also, anyone who has done the event before, how did you create more surface area on your device? Just add boards vertical or horizontal?

jazzy009, there are instances where merely a base will suffice and walls are not needed. However, there have been years where the walls have been a necessity due to an incredibly large amount of complex steps. The last time I did Mission Possible in middle school, the rules allowed up to three competitors. But since this event is now in the high school division and the rules will be different, maybe the person limit will change as well.

It replaces JYC this year in Div C. New rules and a different division make it a totally new event. However the experience they have will help a bit at first.

I don't think a revise is out, but I haven't seen the draft either. Official rules come out September 10th.

Woo. It's replacing Junkyard Challenge. That's sort of a relief, given JYC's many shortcomings as an event.
Wow... are the rules out early this year? I don't remember getting rules last year until late November...

[Dark Sabre]

It's a Div C event this year?

Also, the last MPC was three years ago, and there are going to be people who've done it before who are sophomores or juniors.

Yes, Mission Possible is back as a C event.

MPC was last an event in the 2005 season. MPB was an event up to and including the 2007 season, I think, but they are so different that I don't really consider them that related.

DS, I remember reading about the 2005 shoelace bonus in an archived thread, but could you explain how exactly you did it? Didn't it require that the shoelace have nothing above or below it or something? I had trouble following the description in the wiki thing.

Yeah, there was some lively discussion back then over what exactly would be allowed. I doubt anyone is going to mind me quoting really old rules, so the word of the bonus was:

100 points for tying a 10cm or longer piece of unmodified shoelace into an "overhand knot". The lace must be stretched in a "straight line" at the time the device is started.

Any time "unmodified" appears in a set of rules, there's debate over what constitutes "unmodified". We were not really sure if we could thread anything through the shoelace, tape stuff to it, etc. Also were not sure if we were allowed to tie the knot around something or if the knot had to be completely closed on the shoelace itself. I think there was a clarification issued that said that we could tape/tie stuff to the lace, but I'd have to dig to see if I had a screenshot of it. I don't believe the "can we tie it around something" question was resolved, so I played it safe.

In any case, as to how exactly I did it:
I found two more pictures of that transfer, which will probably help a lot:



The first picture shows it in the ready-state. I circle in green the two places where the blue string is tied to the shoelace. Magenta circled is where the blue string is "tied" loosely in an over-hand knot.
You can see the motor in the center that turns the axle that runs across the whole thing. The spools on the axle (and the two spools-acting-as-pulleys that are vertical) reel in the blue string. As the blue string is reeled in, the loosely tied knot it was in is transferred onto the shoelace, which is now being tied around the piston in the center. The piston then retracts and the knot finishes tightening on itself.
The second picture shows it when it is all done.

Hopefully I did a better job explaining here

[Paradox21]

Hopefully I did a better job explaining here

Oh, that is really clever. I got it, the 1st picture helped a ton.

[htmlfreak]

How different is Mission Possible B from C? I've done Mission possible B for three years, and from what i've seen in the pictures from darksabre, it looks much more complicated than B (in terms of following the path of the transfers). So I'm guessing it's a lot more complicated?

[fmtiger124]

How different is Mission Possible B from C? I've done Mission possible B for three years, and from what i've seen in the pictures from darksabre, it looks much more complicated than B (in terms of following the path of the transfers). So I'm guessing it's a lot more complicated?

From my knowledge they are completely different events and having done division B MP isn't really going to help you all that much. C involves a lot of energy transfers rather than just using a bunch of simple machines

[htmlfreak]

ok thanks.

[DeltaHat]

Are revised draft rules out?

Draft rules have not been released, but anybody who went to Summer Fun Camp at IU got a pre-release copy of the rules.

[htmlfreak]

wow. didn't know that

[inycepoo]

Are revised draft rules out?

Draft rules have not been released, but anybody who went to Summer Fun Camp at IU got a pre-release copy of the rules.

so does anyone here have a copy of those pre-release rules?
it would be a great help, i guess. although i wouldn't go by the rules just yet, but i'm just wondering & asking.
thanks.

[sweetcoop]

You won't really be at any disadvantage...none of the current competitors have built an MPC before (the ones who did MPC during their 8th grade year should have just graduated, I think) and it is so different from any of the other building events (including Mission B, historically) that experience only sorta carries over.

I just put this up on the wiki: 2005 DarkSabre MPC Wiki
I formatted my Energy Transfer List for the wiki and then annotated it with images and comments. If you want to take a look at that, it will probably help explain what all the stuff in my 2005 machine was doing.
I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about that machine (or the 2003 or 2004 ones). If you still wonder what something is, just link to a picture and I'll try to explain. I'll probably do a similar wiki entry for the 2004 machine, since I have enough pictures of it, but not tonight. I only have a couple of the 2003 machine, so I just added comments in the gallery and called it a day.

As for how to start getting ideas...you really can't until you know what the rules are going to ask you to do and what they will prohibit.

Do you have some basic understanding of electrical circuits? Like how to wire a switch to turn things on and off?

Actually if you did mission possible your 8th grade year you would be a Junior this year so there may be people that have done the event before