Too dangerous to attempt?

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I have a short list of challenges I would like to see, but I think that some might be a bit too dangerous to try given the constraints of time and dodgy materials.

1) Helicopters — build and fly a one-man helicopter capable of lifting straight up, moving forward over a 5 foot wall, rotating 180 degrees, going back over the wall and then setting down on a target of 12-inches or smaller.

2) Off-shore well drilling machine — Teams must build a floatable platform with built in drilling derrick. The platforms are towed out into position by the team members, sunk into place in 8-10 feet of water, and then the willer is the team who can drill a 10 foot hole in the bottom of the lake first.

3) Human slingshots — Teams must build a slingshot capable of tossing the lightest team member over a 10 foot high wall and into either an airbag or a large pond.

4) Monorails — teams must build a powered vehicle capable of traveling on a circular monorail course (prebuilt by the producers using 6-inch steel pipe and concrete side tracks) of about 1000 feet. The winning team is the one making it around the track—with a 2-person team on board—the most times in 3 minutes. An automatic win will be awarded to the team completing a mag-lev system for their "car".

5) Drag boats — teams must build high-speed boats capable of taking a team member along a 1/4 mile straight course in a lake in the shortest period of time (and without flipping over). Best of three for this one.

6) Flying Cars — Actually, gliding cars. Teams must build a racing vehicle capable of traveling around a course that features a 10-foot wide gap which the vehicle must be able to glide over on build-in wings or parafoil.

7) Milling Machines II — Instead of the wind-powered coffee grinding machines, teams build water-powered grinding machines capable of grinding wheat into flour (or at least smaller wheat). Each team is given a 5-pound sack of grain and the winner is the one who grinds it in the shortest period of time.

I've come up with some others that are either too difficult or not special enough, but I list them anyway:

a) Articulated vehicle slolom racers b) Dirt lifting and transport vehicles c) Dental robots d) Electromagnetic rail guns e) Scrap crushing machines

What do you think?

-- Tom Hudson (thud@merlinmedia.com), February 13, 2001

Answers

Dental Robots? Why hasn't someone else thought of that? Still laughing. Thanks for the tension breaker.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 13, 2001.

Hey, Tom, If I build a Dental Robot...Can we try doing a root canal on you? That was a funny idea! There's got to be a more detailed explanation of just what you mean by "Dental Robots? Robots made from dentures perhaps?

-- John Gap (mindthegap64@hotmail.com), February 14, 2001.

The monorail Idea is interesting, though the teams would not be able to build a true mag-lev. A mag-lev incorporates magnets in the track to pull it along, and since the track is pre built magnetic propulsion is out of the question. A magnetc levitation system is possible, but some other means of propulsion would be necessary. Also a automatic win should not be awarded to the team who gets a functioning mag-lev system.

-- Graham Raper (vilkacis@hotmail.com), February 14, 2001.

Thud. What a bunch of wacky ideas you have. You couldn;t have been serious with the "dental robots" or the "maglev" monorail, but I think you were quite serious when you mentioned some sort of monorail, and also the flying/gliding car idea and the scrap crushing machines. Well done, my son!

-- Tom Hudson (thud@merlinmedia.com), April 02, 2001.

The monorail challenge might work out, but only if the production copmany builds the track, leaving the teams to build the trains. It wouldn't have to be the huge and high rails we've seen done commercially- two feet off the ground would work just fine. Could be interesting.

-- Chip Haynes (ehaynes@co.pinellas.fl.us), April 09, 2001.


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