Falling bins are like dice

[Greg Ross]

Originally posted by Digo
The Pathfinder landed on Mars inside a pyramid that would always be with the robot's base side on the floor after bouncing.
Maybe its creator didn't want us to have such an easy solution for this problem.

Actually, Pathfinder wasn't guaranteed to land base down after the bounce. It was self righting, though. If the base didn't start out on the bottom, then when the pyramid opened like a flower, it was guaranteed to end up that way.

[Noah]

well all, I think it's time for someone to do a scientific test. Drop a box from 10 feet 100 times and let us know how it turns out!

A statistician can have his head in an oven and his feet in ice, and
he will say that on the average he feels fine.

[Trashed20]

that would only test from 10 feet up. This would be a stack of 7 high, each with a different velocity, trajectory, and rotation. The whole thing comes down to where the force is applied and how hard it is. It also includes friction cause by the interlocking bin design. Remember: you are pushing on the short side of the box! Many people are forgetting this, my team included. this causes a greater footprint for he box i nthe dirrection you are pushing, plus a greater distance from the center of gravity, which means you need more torque applied on the box (either more distance from the point of rotation, or more force applied). you would also have to account for the angle of the force, and how that would create rotational torque on the boxes which would cause them to go a wierd angles, and most likely hit other boxes, and then, the angle, speed, and surface at which it lands, and then bounces, and then comes to rest.

This is not a simple problem....

[Courtneyteam330]

I know a team in my area that got a stack 12 high and when it fell one boxd like STATTERED So be careful and don't stack them to high!