This is a challenge for the creative team, but who would you use for a judge? The challenge would be to have the teams begin with a furnished frame, triangular, square, or rectangular, of square steel tubing, and have the teams build the biggest( or maybe to required big dimentions) moving, and driveable by a team member, contraption that they can get mounted and balanced on the frame in ten hours. The contest would be to get the machines to go along a track or road that gets progressively rougher (washboard style, beginning like speed bumps and getting progressively worse, ending like parking lot bumpers or telephone poles across the track ), until one machine falls over, or apart or can't go any longer. Each team would start with, say, 100 points, and points be deducted for each item falling off, and maybe award points to the team that can go longest or reach goals on the road fastest. Another twist for this one would be to limit the amount of power that they can use. Points could also be awarded for the longest, widest, or tallest (or combination of the three dimentions) machine made. The "Art Attack" team could have a field day with this one, and maybe some of them could be the experts for this, as it is similar to their kinetic sculptures. It would require a special place to have the contest, and maybe a way to get the machines from the yard to the place. Another angle would be to make them build them where they will fold up and legally fit on a truck for transport to the site, making the challenge even tougher. Sort of like "Transformer" toys on steroids. The driver would likely need to be inside a crash cage (furnished?) to be protected from the machine should it suddenly self destruct. Hopefully the inventive group of people that post on this board can hammer this into something that can be done. It's not like anything that I have seen suggested so far. It's all off the cuff thinking, so have fun with it.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 27, 2001

Answers

Oops, double posted it. Sorry.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 27, 2001.

Or you could do the same thing, however, the thing must fit through a tunnel, go over a ditch, through some waist high water then the washboard...

Never mind, if one of my customers asked me for this, I have a nervous breakdown :^)

-- Dan Denney (rustrenegades@hotmail.com), February 27, 2001.

I like the idea. I think your on the right track. Going over a wide terrain and the having to auto collapse smaller to go through a tunnel. The resize and articulate around a series of obsticles.eg. pilons, fence, puddle,etc. Then with either a power arm or manual (leave that up to the expert), they would have to pick up a series of objects a take them back to the start. One object per team member.

-- Craig Wardle (conjuringcanucks@execulink.com), February 27, 2001.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think what makes this intriguing is that the machine would have no real world practical purpose, except to look strange, and entertain people. Almost all the other machines I have seen proposed would be built to accomplish a specific job. It would be a kinetic sculpture with power. To make it even more difficult, the original frame (furnished) could be made very large, or very small.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), February 28, 2001.

Waddy:

This sounds like a blast. Kinda like a junkyard version of a Rose Bowl Float. Just as long as I get to throw Mardi Gras Beads!!!

Check out how the Broadcast Junkies spent Mardi Gras!!! http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/broadcastjunkies

-- Joey Falgout (Broadcast Junkies) (joeyinalexandria@hotmail.com), February 28, 2001.