Electric Vehicle C

[Bazinga+]

I also get all the Robot Arms questions. The closest one from last year that I saw was "Can the competitors impart energy into the end effector without ending the
run? An example would be pulling a syringe on the control board to cause a gripper to close." Is that yours by any chance?

Yes that sounds about right. Don't remember if that was the exact way I phrased it but that was the essence of the question. Do you know whether and how it was answered?

[chalker]

I also get all the Robot Arms questions. The closest one from last year that I saw was "Can the competitors impart energy into the end effector without ending the
run? An example would be pulling a syringe on the control board to cause a gripper to close." Is that yours by any chance?

Yes that sounds about right. Don't remember if that was the exact way I phrased it but that was the essence of the question. Do you know whether and how it was answered?

That particular question was submitted on March 4th and answered on March 14th. The answer was "No, this would end the run".

[Bazinga+]

That particular question was submitted on March 4th and answered on March 14th. The answer was "No, this would end the run".

I did not receive an answer. Do you know where / to which email the answer was sent and if so was it the one I provided? Also from which email would the answer have been sent? Thanks.

[chalker]

I did not receive an answer. Do you know where / to which email the answer was sent and if so was it the one I provided? Also from which email would the answer have been sent? Thanks.

We can't tell who it was sent to anymore since everyone is bcc'd Responses always come from no-reply@soinc.org

[HandsFreeCookieDunk]

I know that nothing on these forums is official and I have already submitted a FAQ, but I've heard that they often take a while to be answered and I figured I'd see if anyone on here had any insight. In 2.g., the rules say that the dowel must be "the leading part of the vehicle at all times." What does leading mean? Is it the forward-most part in the direction of the vehicle's travel or the part closest to the target point?

From the language, I think it's safe to assume that leading refers to the furthest most point in the direction of movement. So even if your car turns 90 degrees and starts going perpendicular to the track, the dowel will still be the forward most part of the vehicle relative to the vehicles motion.
Again this is not official and just my interpretation of the rules, so definately check out the FAQ when it's answered for the definite answer.
Speaking of FAQs on the national site, I submitted 2-3 questions last year around January/February and for some reason they were never answered. I resubmitted some of them a few weeks after first posting and still didn't get a response. Does anyone know why this could have happened? Is it often that questions don't get answered on the FAQs? I just want to be sure because the lack of answers to those questions ended up negatively affecting me at nationals.

Does this seem really obvious to everyone? I just received a response from SOINC, and it basically said that it was a stupid question because the rules are clear, without actually clarifying which of the two meanings was correct. Am I just being stupid, or is it reasonable to think that "leading" could be interpreted as "furthest down the track" rather than "front of the vehicle"?

[chalker]

Does this seem really obvious to everyone? I just received a response from SOINC, and it basically said that it was a stupid question because the rules are clear, without actually clarifying which of the two meanings was correct. Am I just being stupid, or is it reasonable to think that "leading" could be interpreted as "furthest down the track" rather than "front of the vehicle"?

In general, yes I think it's pretty obvious. Leading means the front relative to the direction of motion.

[rockhound]

Does this seem really obvious to everyone? I just received a response from SOINC, and it basically said that it was a stupid question because the rules are clear, without actually clarifying which of the two meanings was correct. Am I just being stupid, or is it reasonable to think that "leading" could be interpreted as "furthest down the track" rather than "front of the vehicle"?

In general, yes I think it's pretty obvious. Leading means the front relative to the direction of motion.

Assume a car was aiming at the target point in a way that was traditional last year which would have the dowel rod in front and the direction of motion. But if leading means, as Chalker writes, front relative direction to motion would it be a construction violation if a car placed like this was able to slide to the left or right since the dowel road would not be in the front of the car in that left/right direction of motion?

[chalker]

Assume a car was aiming at the target point in a way that was traditional last year which would have the dowel rod in front and the direction of motion. But if leading means, as Chalker writes, front relative direction to motion would it be a construction violation if a car placed like this was able to slide to the left or right since the dowel road would not be in the front of the car in that left/right direction of motion?

I think you all are over analyzing this. Consider what the purpose of the dowel rod is - to assure that the photogates are tripped properly when the vehicle crosses the line. Obviously if you designed a vehicle that is also able to go left/right, it wouldn't be tripping the photogates while moving in that direction, so the dowel isn't needed in that case.

[piyushsud]

How much exactly is the distance score and run score valued this year? Like is it 1cm off = 1pt and 1 second = 1pt?

[windu34]

How much exactly is the distance score and run score valued this year? Like is it 1cm off = 1pt and 1 second = 1pt?

Yes