General Discussion

[fizwiz]

Am I missing something or is there a major loohole inthe rules? Nowhere does it say the loading block must be at the top of the tower or that the "height" of the tower is the height to the block. It says the tower must support a loading block 40cm above the base and says the tower can be any height. A 70cm tall tower could potentially be designed to hold the loading block at 40cm. This is not in the spirit of the competition but could be argued to meet ALL the design and test requirements. I am sure there are some teams out there that would have no problem taking advantage of the loophole.

Can someone see that this is addressed?

[mrsteven]

Am I missing something or is there a major loohole inthe rules? Nowhere does it say the loading block must be at the top of the tower or that the "height" of the tower is the height to the block. It says the tower must support a loading block 40cm above the base and says the tower can be any height. A 70cm tall tower could potentially be designed to hold the loading block at 40cm. This is not in the spirit of the competition but could be argued to meet ALL the design and test requirements. I am sure there are some teams out there that would have no problem taking advantage of the loophole.

Can someone see that this is addressed?

My recommendation to you is to read the clarifications on the national SO site and your sp. states web sites often, especially the week of a competition/major building session.
Given that, this is a quote from the National SO Site :"Towers B/C (10/17/11): Add one line, "6.c.iv. The tower height is measured to the highest tower point on which the bottom of the loading block rests""

Answer your question
(I was hoping to do that as well earlier this year)

Good thought though. Read rules carefully, you might find some other loopholes to exploit

[rjm]

You are correct, we got through writing the draft rules, editing and discussing, and had the rules published before we realized we left out the height definition. The old rules didn't need a height definition. It was clearly the intent to measure to the point of support, but I think it's better to say so explicitly than to try to enforce the "spirit of the problem". The clarification should take care ofthis one. Without it, I'm sure we'd get short towers with antennas.

Bob Monetza
Grand Haven, MI

[fizwiz]

Without it, I'm sure we'd get short towers with antennas.

Exactly what I was thinking. 40cm tower with a 30cm 1/16 x 1/16 balsa sticking up.

[fanjiatian]

What masses and scores are you guys getting using the Regional formula in the rules?

My lowest mass has been just under 16 grams for a 70 cm tower, holding max load.
My towers from last year were usually about half the mass of my towers from this year which intrigues me, because this year's towers are only 20 cm taller

My highest score so far has been around 61

[mrsteven]

What masses and scores are you guys getting using the Regional formula in the rules?

My lowest mass has been just under 16 grams for a 70 cm tower, holding max load.
My towers from last year were usually about half the mass of my towers from this year which intrigues me, because this year's towers are only 20 cm taller

My highest score so far has been around 61

I've gotten 55 fairly consistently, working on a design I'm expecting around a 60-65

mine are around 13 grams breaking give or take at 12 kg

[liutony66]

I have a few questions: (sorry if they have already been asked,I did not want to sift through 10 pages)

So, first of all, what size of wood do you usually use? Would it not be allowable to just create a tower made of one thick wood block with a hole in the middle for the chain and tapers? Although this would be heavy, it could easily carry max weight and max height. Or is this not allowed?

Secondly, when you are testing wouldn't your tower break often? Consequently, does that mean you have to frequently recreate your tower? (Which also means a lot of money expenditure)

Thanks!

[hpfananu]

I have a few questions: (sorry if they have already been asked,I did not want to sift through 10 pages)

So, first of all, what size of wood do you usually use? Would it not be allowable to just create a tower made of one thick wood block with a hole in the middle for the chain and tapers? Although this would be heavy, it could easily carry max weight and max height. Or is this not allowed?

Secondly, when you are testing wouldn't your tower break often? Consequently, does that mean you have to frequently recreate your tower? (Which also means a lot of money expenditure)

Thanks!

For the thick block: it would be heavy and that's one of the main points of this event. With the way you're scored, that would be so heavy to where there would be no point to hold everything.
The tower does break. Although there are ways (previous posts) to not make it break and fix it, these towers break and break and break. Most people build countless towers and yes, it does cost a bit. But, in my opinion, balsa events cost less over time. It takes like 10 dollars of balsa wood from hobby lobby to build a tower (although I don't recommend HobbyLobby wood). You do remake your tower but you change things so each is a little different.

[Balsa Man]

I have a few questions: (sorry if they have already been asked,I did not want to sift through 10 pages)

So, first of all, what size of wood do you usually use? Would it not be allowable to just create a tower made of one thick wood block with a hole in the middle for the chain and tapers? Although this would be heavy, it could easily carry max weight and max height. Or is this not allowed?

Secondly, when you are testing wouldn't your tower break often? Consequently, does that mean you have to frequently recreate your tower? (Which also means a lot of money expenditure)

Thanks!

Said as politely as possible, a question back to you:
If you don't want to take the time to read through the information that others have taken their time to share on this forum, why do you expect them to take more time to repeat/repost information?
There is a lot of information on the questions you ask here- from very simple summaries and statements, to detailed discussions of fine points.

Your question on building with a big block of wood (which is certainly "allowed") sounds like you have not read the rules - which is the starting point for every event; the objective- what gets you more points - is structural efficiency (weight carried divided by weight of structure) - how do you make it light, yet able to carry all or most of the load. With the big block of wood approach, you're talking hundreds of grams, maybe 1,000+. The only towers you'll beat are those that were not built in compliance with the rules, which are scored behind those that do. Amazingly, there are almost always one or two at most competitions that that happens to. Competitive towers will be (70cm tall) under 15 grams, carrying full load; really competitive ones will be approaching/maybe under 10 grams. If you want to be at all competitive, read, learn, apply what you've learned, work. If you don't, which is certainly fine, the big block approach might be what you want. But, when you stop to think, how would you drill a hole 70cm long through your big block of wood? Building something out of 2x2 lumber from Home Depot (less than $5) would be much easier.

[baker]

Does anybody remember where to find plans to build the water cooler bottle sand delivering device? We have the test table but we would to build the pouring setup like used at states.