Scioly.org

twototwenty wrote:I know I am just being lazy by not looking it up myself, but would someone mind explaining what Fermi and Robot Arm are?

You can see the draft Robot Arm rules on the Trial Events page at soinc.org: http://soinc.org/sites/default/files/up ... rm11v7.pdf

Fermi is described in the wiki: http://scioly.org/wiki/Fermi_Questions.

Primate wrote:

chalker7 wrote:Most building events are now on a two year rotation in order to help keep things fresh and provide new challenges to teams.

That's really a shame. We've found that it usually takes three or more years for a team to really master an event, and thus to have the best competition.

I agree. There is a lot to be learned from some of the engineering events. Also, one or two years may not be enough to develop the necessary understanding and experience for designing and building outstanding devices.

Of course, at this point, multiple schools will have achieved mastery, and their devices will be virtually the same, and differences in scoring will be left down to the tiniest differnces on variable points, which isnt much fun, so I can see to some degree the reasoning behind the two year cyle. But dont get me wrong, I dont want to see mission go, either.

twototwenty wrote:Of course, at this point, multiple schools will have achieved mastery, and their devices will be virtually the same, and differences in scoring will be left down to the tiniest differnces on variable points, which isnt much fun, so I can see to some degree the reasoning behind the two year cyle. But dont get me wrong, I dont want to see mission go, either.

Oh, absolutely. Sumobots has been run in NYS for god knows how long, and the design creativity has seemed to peak. Everyone comes with a wedge bot and a sharp metal scoop, and the winner is whoever has marginally better grip, speed, and driving skills.

Mission, it would seem, is far less susceptible to design fatigue. The tasks change every year, so teams are forced to find a whole new set of creative ways to solve the problems. Of course, you do get better at knowing what's reliable and what's likely to be a disaster after you've built a few missions. Here's to hoping for one more year.

Also, I don't understand why Fermi would replace Sumobots...?

Thats true...i doubt the peple doing mission will have "reached mastery" after only two years either.

I jut read through the rules for robotic arm and fermi. Fermi, although cool, is definitly a testing event! Why would it replace sumo bots? What I think should happen is robotic arm relaces sumo, as the are most alike, and we keep mission. Maybe fermi can replace another testing event.

twototwenty wrote:Thats true...i doubt the peple doing mission will have "reached mastery" after only two years either.

in ohio at state mission always comes down to being a tie between the top 8 or so teams and then it comes down to tie breakers and time.

maybe in other states it takes several years to master the event but for ohio's team they generally do it in one year
so i say it is good to have a two year rotation

But what would be a good replacement for it? Not robot arm, in my opinion; theyre not really in the same category.

twototwenty wrote:I jut read through the rules for robotic arm and fermi. Fermi, although cool, is definitly a testing event! Why would it replace sumo bots? What I think should happen is robotic arm relaces sumo, as the are most alike, and we keep mission. Maybe fermi can replace another testing event.

There are various issues going on here, but if you look at the charts, Sumo Bots is actually the one that's somewhat out of place. It technically replaced Picture This from the previous two years. By proposing to put Fermi back in, some 'balance' is being restored to that particularly category (Inquiry / Problem Solving). You really can't look at it from a 'which are most alike' perspective, rather from the view of what the intent of the category is.

I for one LOVE Mission Possible and it is one of the biggest reasons why I do Science Olympiad. I don't see why it should be replaced because of the fresh set of tasks coming in each year. It would be sad if does get replaced by another event.