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177 grams?!?!?! THAT'S 1770 POINTS!!
Wow, I'm speechless... If anyone has info on the balloons, please post it. Its on longer an event anyways next year, and I'm extremely curious.

My guess is they have an insanely large balloon; one that takes up half or more of the device, maybe custom made. Then, if the competition is in a gym or some place with a really high ceiling, they use the momentum of the balloon itself to pull up the weight. To do this, you just need a really long string between your balloon and the sign (weight). As the balloon rises, it will gain momentum. Once the string runs out, it yanks the sign over the top of the device. Keep in mind, there is not a requirement saying the sign must remain above the device. Another way to get more weight up is to minimize the height of the device, which in turn minimizes the distance the weight has to travel.

The Ohio thread says they used very few actual tasks. I'll do some calculations to see what the best possibility would be.

chalker said that they used very few tasks, as mentioned above, so they probably lifted more than 177 grams. When i ran the math to get 177 it was assuming they did all the highest tasks, without those tasks they must have been closer to 185, maybe even more.

hmcginny wrote:chalker said that they used very few tasks, as mentioned above, so they probably lifted more than 177 grams. When i ran the math to get 177 it was assuming they did all the highest tasks, without those tasks they must have been closer to 185, maybe even more.

i didn't see them run at state but i've seen their device and its literally a 12in by 12in by 12in box with all tasks included in it. whats mentioned above about the momentum of the balloon is very likely what they did. i also think that they had the maximum number of scored tasks but they probably had very few to no in between actions. also all of their tasks probably happened in like 2 or 3 seconds so the got the maximum sand timer score. their score was 3004 i believe

I feel like the balloon would reach it's terminal velocity rather quickly, thus it's momentum would be capped for a short enough string length such that ceiling height wouldn't matter. Is this not the case?

marty3 wrote:I feel like the balloon would reach it's terminal velocity rather quickly, thus it's momentum would be capped for a short enough string length such that ceiling height wouldn't matter. Is this not the case?

I too highly doubt they are using momentum to lift something. More likely, they are just using a really big balloon that they custom constructed (out of mylar or something) to maximize the lifting capacity. The absolute max a balloon the same size as a mission could lift is a bit over 200 grams (and that's discounting any tasks that obviously would take up some volume), so the winning Ohio team is well within that range.

So i was wondering what exactly qualifies as a balloon? Would it be anything that is air tight, holds helium and only rises due to the buoyant force of the helium?

That is my understanding of the requirements for meeting the "balloon" aspect of this event. Are you thinking about making a home-made balloon?

Yup after seeing what Solon can do round balloons simply won't cut it. Also a side not the momentum idea does not work very well. Perhaps i works for lifting the mass an extra 5 inches but not 50 cm.