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Unread 05-04-2003, 22:05
Jnadke Jnadke is offline
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I think you guys are underestimating the reality of this challenge.


Firstly, these courses are similar to something you'd see in professional dune buggy competition. Obviously, whatever you build is going to need to last. Even more-so than a FIRST robot. Simply, take the most robust FIRST robot you've seen and multiply it by 100.

Secondly, This is a challenge that is greater than 250 miles. They're expecting 250 miles alone in a desert course. A typical car can only do 300 miles. Obviously you're going to either need a very efficient engine, or you're going to need a very efficient solar/electrical vehicle. You must also keep in mind that the time limit is 10 hours. That's 30 miles per hour, even in the desert.

The programming and electrical engineering challenge of this task is astronomical. You need to design, build, and coordinate a guidance system of great proportions that can accurately depict hazards and correct its course. This fact alone would take someone with a PhD in either (or both) of these fields. GPS is accurate, but not that accurate. Let's just say it's the difference between being on the road and driving off a cliff, so you can't rely strictly on that.


Needless to say, in the process of building the vehicle, major breakthroughs will most likely need to occur or will hapen not only in the programming aspects, but in the design itself. This is no easy challenge like FIRST. FIRST is a cakewalk compared to this. I don't mean to be rude, but you simply won't have the resources to complete a task like this. If you manage to go 10 miles in this competition, I myself will give you $1000.

For people thinking of critisizing me, don't. Think, you only have a year to do this. Building a machine as complex of this is a large undertaking. There's simply too much to learn before you can even begin to think about designing something like this. You have to learn Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Computer Science in less than a year. You have to explore all the possibilities. You're better off designing stuff and waiting until the year after to do anything as massive as this. They said they'll do the competition until 2007.
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Last edited by Jnadke : 05-04-2003 at 22:19.
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