Mousetrap Vehicle C

[Rêveur]

Hey has anyone had problems with rule 5d which outlines that the event supervisors have to provide a 16 oz cup?

There seems to be no set standard on how large / tall a 16 oz plastic cup is, so my partner and I are encountering problems with our cup holding apparatus. Additionally some cups seem to be heavier than others, made of different plastics or something.

Was just wondering is anyone else was encountering these problems

[Alex-RCHS]

Hey has anyone had problems with rule 5d which outlines that the event supervisors have to provide a 16 oz cup?

There seems to be no set standard on how large / tall a 16 oz plastic cup is, so my partner and I are encountering problems with our cup holding apparatus. Additionally some cups seem to be heavier than others, made of different plastics or something.

Was just wondering is anyone else was encountering these problems

We haven't gone to a tournament yet, but I imagine that it isn't hard to make a cup holding apparatus that fits most cups. And if the weight of the cup creates issues of friction, that should impact the time of all competitors equally and will not affect accuracy.

[dragonfruit35]

Hey has anyone had problems with rule 5d which outlines that the event supervisors have to provide a 16 oz cup?

There seems to be no set standard on how large / tall a 16 oz plastic cup is, so my partner and I are encountering problems with our cup holding apparatus. Additionally some cups seem to be heavier than others, made of different plastics or something.

Was just wondering is anyone else was encountering these problems

We haven't gone to a tournament yet, but I imagine that it isn't hard to make a cup holding apparatus that fits most cups. And if the weight of the cup creates issues of friction, that should impact the time of all competitors equally and will not affect accuracy.

It seems to me based on the two competitions that I've gone to that supervisors are likely to use Solo-style cups (light plastic, brightly colored, etc). You can try to make your cup-holder fit as wide a range of cup sizes as you can while making sure they're not going to escape being pushed to the CTL.

[mnoga]

Hey has anyone had problems with rule 5d which outlines that the event supervisors have to provide a 16 oz cup?

There seems to be no set standard on how large / tall a 16 oz plastic cup is, so my partner and I are encountering problems with our cup holding apparatus. Additionally some cups seem to be heavier than others, made of different plastics or something.

Was just wondering is anyone else was encountering these problems

We haven't gone to a tournament yet, but I imagine that it isn't hard to make a cup holding apparatus that fits most cups. And if the weight of the cup creates issues of friction, that should impact the time of all competitors equally and will not affect accuracy.

It seems to me based on the two competitions that I've gone to that supervisors are likely to use Solo-style cups (light plastic, brightly colored, etc). You can try to make your cup-holder fit as wide a range of cup sizes as you can while making sure they're not going to escape being pushed to the CTL.

That was a minor issue at the Mira Loma Invitational, as the supervisor went to Costco the night before the event and bought some heavier and larger diameter cups than the Solo 16S. The issue is more about the weight of the cup, which might prevent you from crossing over the 3m line. It is probably a good idea to pick up several different cup designs and practice with those. Your cup holder could be flexible aluminum wire that could be bent in a few seconds to accommodate almost any size cup. If you go with what I call the fixed "V" or Trapezoid design, then I'd recommend testing with different cups to make sure the dowel touches the bottom of all your test cups.

I think they should standardize on the dimensions/weight of the cup, or use the Solo 16S at all competitions.

[Rêveur]

We haven't gone to a tournament yet, but I imagine that it isn't hard to make a cup holding apparatus that fits most cups. And if the weight of the cup creates issues of friction, that should impact the time of all competitors equally and will not affect accuracy.

It seems to me based on the two competitions that I've gone to that supervisors are likely to use Solo-style cups (light plastic, brightly colored, etc). You can try to make your cup-holder fit as wide a range of cup sizes as you can while making sure they're not going to escape being pushed to the CTL.

That was a minor issue at the Mira Loma Invitational, as the supervisor went to Costco the night before the event and bought some heavier and larger diameter cups than the Solo 16S. The issue is more about the weight of the cup, which might prevent you from crossing over the 3m line. It is probably a good idea to pick up several different cup designs and practice with those. Your cup holder could be flexible aluminum wire that could be bent in a few seconds to accommodate almost any size cup. If you go with what I call the fixed "V" or Trapezoid design, then I'd recommend testing with different cups to make sure the dowel touches the bottom of all your test cups.

I think they should standardize on the dimensions/weight of the cup, or use the Solo 16S at all competitions.

Thanks for your reply mnoga!
I completely agree with standardization of the cups to the Solo 16S. Would it be possible for us to submit a rules clarification to the national committee somehow?

I'll definitely try the aluminum wire design, my partner and I only fear that with our current design the car might somehow drag the cup back the Minimum cup distance of 0.5m, don't know if that's happened to anyone yet......

[PM2017]

Thoughts on using the Andymark compliant wheels linked below?
2 in: https://www.andymark.com/2-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm
4 in: https://www.andymark.com/4-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm

[terence.tan]

Thoughts on using the Andymark compliant wheels linked below?
2 in: https://www.andymark.com/2-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm
4 in: https://www.andymark.com/4-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm

They seem light and thick enough to be accurate but are you going to use balloons for the grip?

[PM2017]

Thoughts on using the Andymark compliant wheels linked below?
2 in: https://www.andymark.com/2-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm
4 in: https://www.andymark.com/4-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm

They seem light and thick enough to be accurate but are you going to use balloons for the grip?

The entire thing is the tread. We used these in robotics as intake wheels this year, and they are very grippy.

[terence.tan]

Thoughts on using the Andymark compliant wheels linked below?
2 in: https://www.andymark.com/2-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm
4 in: https://www.andymark.com/4-Compliant-Wh ... pliant.htm

They seem light and thick enough to be accurate but are you going to use balloons for the grip?

The entire thing is the tread. We used these in robotics as intake wheels this year, and they are very grippy.

Really? It does not look that way. But if so, that is the way to go

[PM2017]

They seem light and thick enough to be accurate but are you going to use balloons for the grip?

The entire thing is the tread. We used these in robotics as intake wheels this year, and they are very grippy.

Really? It does not look that way. But if so, that is the way to go

that's what I was thinking. It's just that these I don't know how these wheels would react without being compressed a lot. In robotics, when we used them, the wheels were compressed quite a bit.
I would experiment with them, but they're so expensive.