Competitions

The Egg Carrier

Overview:

The contestants will have to design a vehicle that will successfully carry an egg down an inclined ramp and hit a wall without breaking.

Vehicle specifications:

The vehicle may be no bigger than 6 inches in length, and 6 inches in width

Restrictions :

Noting may be applied to the egg such as a hardener Nothing may be attached to the ramp, only the vehicle itself may be touching it

Ramp:

The ramp will be 3 foot long and only a foot wide

Contest:

1) All entrants will be required to privately submit the angle of ramp inclination they wish to make their first run on. This is to avoid having vehicles make trivial runs. The initial angle requests must be multiples of 5 degrees. These starting angles must be submitted no later than 15 minutes before the competition begins. During this time all vehicles will be inspected by the judges. Any vehicle that is found not under specifications will be allowed to participate, but will not be able to win any prizes.

2) If any vehicle fails its chosen initial ramp grade, that vehicle is disqualified. Later on if a vehicle fails on a steeper grade, it will be given a second trial. If it fails the second trial, the vehicle is disqualified.

3) A successful run will consist of a vehicle running down the inclination a distance of 3 feet and coming to a stop against the wall with the egg not breaking or cracking.

4) When a vehicle is up, the contestants are to place the vehicle so that the front-most part is behind the starting line. The contestants can merely let the vehicle go. Only one car will run at a time.

5) The order in which the vehicles are run will be determined by both a random drawing and the initial angle requests. Those contestants choosing the smallest angles will go first in the order that they were drawn.

6) When an entry is called to start a run, it will have 2 minutes to get on the ramp. If the vehicle is not released when 2 minutes expires, the vehicle will be disqualified.

7) If any vehicle experiences a mechanical failure prior to the run, that vehicles pit crew will be given 10 minutes to make repairs. If repairs cannot be made in that time, the entry will be disqualified. Official eggs will be available throughout the event.

8) As the competition progresses, the ramp slope will be gradually increased by increments of 5 degrees. Vehicles unable to make successful runs will be eliminated until three vehicles remain. These three will continue the competition in the same manner until first, second, and third place is determined. There will be a maximum of one run per vehicle at each angle.

9) If less than three vehicles are able to successfully travel a given grade (which will be a multiple of 5 degrees) the ramp will be lowered to 1 degree above the last successful angle. Thereafter, 1 degree increments will be made until the first, second, and third place are decided.