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It's About Time C

Posted: September 5th, 2022, 6:50 pm
by bernard

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: September 15th, 2022, 5:38 pm
by scalland
Can the device be a chemical reaction? It doesn't explicitly say that is forbidden in the rule book but it says on the SciOly page that you are not allowed to.

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: September 29th, 2022, 8:20 pm
by Danre98
Ouch, this event has changed quite a bit: the device needs to emit a consistent signal three times at randomly chosen intervals between 10-30s at regionals (up to 60 at nationals) for two trials instead of one signal after 300s (at most). I had a quite accurate hourglass-esque device that is now worthless and I need to start over for this year.

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: January 17th, 2023, 6:05 pm
by Weavy
Id love for some ideas in which yall were going to do the three signals thing. Was brainstorming with my class and we were struggling. I mentioned maybe a balancing bird type of idea with a water based device, but wasnt sure how well that would work. Glad I wasnt the only one stumped by this. I see mention of a pendulum, but what would be the signal in that case? Would the pendulum hit some sort of bell or something? Thanks for the help!

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: January 30th, 2023, 7:10 am
by Tall
Weavy wrote: January 17th, 2023, 6:05 pm Id love for some ideas in which yall were going to do the three signals thing. Was brainstorming with my class and we were struggling. I mentioned maybe a balancing bird type of idea with a water based device, but wasnt sure how well that would work. Glad I wasnt the only one stumped by this. I see mention of a pendulum, but what would be the signal in that case? Would the pendulum hit some sort of bell or something? Thanks for the help!
Glad you brought this up. I don't have a clue on how to implement three signals for a Sand Clock. There is not enough information in the rules document. Any insight would really help.

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: January 30th, 2023, 9:20 pm
by knightmoves
How about this:

The sand falls into the pan of a balance. When the weight of the sand exceeds the weight, the pan falls down, which does two things:
1. Dings a bell (your signal)
2. Hits a lever that releases a mass to fall into the pan on the other side of the balance.

Repeat...

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: January 31st, 2023, 12:44 pm
by Danre98
A month ago, Virginia Science Olympiad made a good video where they discuss the event.

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: January 31st, 2023, 5:32 pm
by Tall
knightmoves wrote: January 30th, 2023, 9:20 pm How about this:

The sand falls into the pan of a balance. When the weight of the sand exceeds the weight, the pan falls down, which does two things:
1. Dings a bell (your signal)
2. Hits a lever that releases a mass to fall into the pan on the other side of the balance.

Repeat...
Thank you.

Re: It's About Time C

Posted: February 21st, 2023, 2:25 pm
by SOcoachB
How are people interpreting the phrase "commercial counter" in the construction parameters?