Mousetrap Vehicle C

[thesenotes]

What kind of times are people getting right now? What do you guys think will be the top times at nationals?

[Alex-RCHS]

What kind of times are people getting right now? What do you guys think will be the top times at nationals?

We're about 9-10 seconds right now, and I've heard that the better teams at MIT got around 8-10. I'm actually kind of surprised by these high times. I expected the top teams at MIT to be closer to 6-7 seconds, but I guess given the relatively large distance, and the fact that it's still early in the season, the 8-10 reported for top 6 at MIT makes sense.

Of course, for most vehicles (if not all) there is a tradeoff between accuracy and time. And accuracy will almost always be more important, until you get within a centimeter or two consistently I'm guessing.

[thesenotes]

What kind of times are people getting right now? What do you guys think will be the top times at nationals?

We're about 9-10 seconds right now, and I've heard that the better teams at MIT got around 8-10. I'm actually kind of surprised by these high times. I expected the top teams at MIT to be closer to 6-7 seconds, but I guess given the relatively large distance, and the fact that it's still early in the season, the 8-10 reported for top 6 at MIT makes sense.

Of course, for most vehicles (if not all) there is a tradeoff between accuracy and time. And accuracy will almost always be more important, until you get within a centimeter or two consistently I'm guessing.

Yeah, my feeling is that top 10 at nats will be within 2 cm of the target, and 1st place will have a crazy fast time like 4 seconds.

[windu34]

What kind of times are people getting right now? What do you guys think will be the top times at nationals?

We're about 9-10 seconds right now, and I've heard that the better teams at MIT got around 8-10. I'm actually kind of surprised by these high times. I expected the top teams at MIT to be closer to 6-7 seconds, but I guess given the relatively large distance, and the fact that it's still early in the season, the 8-10 reported for top 6 at MIT makes sense.

Of course, for most vehicles (if not all) there is a tradeoff between accuracy and time. And accuracy will almost always be more important, until you get within a centimeter or two consistently I'm guessing.

Yeah, my feeling is that top 10 at nats will be within 2 cm of the target, and 1st place will have a crazy fast time like 4 seconds.

I agree with this. I think there is potential for a sub 6 pt score at nats. Will someone actually achieve it? That depends on whether or not there is a pair of students out there determined enough. Top 6 at nats will likely be <~10 points.

[4Head]

What kind of times are people getting right now? What do you guys think will be the top times at nationals?

We're about 9-10 seconds right now, and I've heard that the better teams at MIT got around 8-10. I'm actually kind of surprised by these high times. I expected the top teams at MIT to be closer to 6-7 seconds, but I guess given the relatively large distance, and the fact that it's still early in the season, the 8-10 reported for top 6 at MIT makes sense.

Of course, for most vehicles (if not all) there is a tradeoff between accuracy and time. And accuracy will almost always be more important, until you get within a centimeter or two consistently I'm guessing.

Yeah, my feeling is that top 10 at nats will be within 2 cm of the target, and 1st place will have a crazy fast time like 4 seconds.

Agreed, and I'd think top 6 would be dead on with placings decided by time.

is 4 seconds achievable? I would have thought the fastest possible time would have to be 6 or more. averaging 2 m/s with only two mousetraps seems pretty unfeasible.

[Otkrlj]

We're about 9-10 seconds right now, and I've heard that the better teams at MIT got around 8-10. I'm actually kind of surprised by these high times. I expected the top teams at MIT to be closer to 6-7 seconds, but I guess given the relatively large distance, and the fact that it's still early in the season, the 8-10 reported for top 6 at MIT makes sense.

Of course, for most vehicles (if not all) there is a tradeoff between accuracy and time. And accuracy will almost always be more important, until you get within a centimeter or two consistently I'm guessing.

Yeah, my feeling is that top 10 at nats will be within 2 cm of the target, and 1st place will have a crazy fast time like 4 seconds.

Agreed, and I'd think top 6 would be dead on with placings decided by time.

is 4 seconds achievable? I would have thought the fastest possible time would have to be 6 or more. averaging 2 m/s with only two mousetraps seems pretty unfeasible.

I can get 4 secounds on mine but it cant get it to reach the ctp. Right now mine goes 8 secounts and hits right on point to 1 cm off

[thesenotes]

Yeah, my feeling is that top 10 at nats will be within 2 cm of the target, and 1st place will have a crazy fast time like 4 seconds.

Agreed, and I'd think top 6 would be dead on with placings decided by time.

is 4 seconds achievable? I would have thought the fastest possible time would have to be 6 or more. averaging 2 m/s with only two mousetraps seems pretty unfeasible.

I can get 4 secounds on mine but it cant get it to reach the ctp. Right now mine goes 8 secounts and hits right on point to 1 cm off

Wow, how were you able to get 4 seconds? I'm guessing you used balsa? Was it still accurate at those speeds?

[Otkrlj]

Agreed, and I'd think top 6 would be dead on with placings decided by time.

is 4 seconds achievable? I would have thought the fastest possible time would have to be 6 or more. averaging 2 m/s with only two mousetraps seems pretty unfeasible.

I can get 4 secounds on mine but it cant get it to reach the ctp. Right now mine goes 8 secounts and hits right on point to 1 cm off

Wow, how were you able to get 4 seconds? I'm guessing you used balsa? Was it still accurate at those speeds?

Ya we used balsa. It was not very accurate. The best we got it was 2 cm off

[Otkrlj]

I can get 4 secounds on mine but it cant get it to reach the ctp. Right now mine goes 8 secounts and hits right on point to 1 cm off

Wow, how were you able to get 4 seconds? I'm guessing you used balsa? Was it still accurate at those speeds?

Ya we used balsa. It was not very accurate. The best we got it was 2 cm off. The avarage distance was 5 to 15 cm off

[windu34]

I can get 4 secounds on mine but it cant get it to reach the ctp. Right now mine goes 8 secounts and hits right on point to 1 cm off

Wow, how were you able to get 4 seconds? I'm guessing you used balsa? Was it still accurate at those speeds?

Ya we used balsa. It was not very accurate. The best we got it was 2 cm off

2cm off is actually pretty accurate. In my experience, its not possible to consistently get any more accurate than ~2cm on an average run due to extraneous variables out of your control. If you are consistently getting ~2cm off, start learning how to adjust for the second run and work on lowering that time score.