2024 Competition
Lego Land Rescue Crane
Introduction
The entire lego world has been attacked by the evils of the combined forces of The Empire, Death Eaters and a rival kingdom to the Lion Throne. After so many years of peace in the world all the evil organizations have banded together to threaten the Lego World. The heros of the Star Wars World have been imprisoned by the Empire and need your brain to rescue them. The heroes of Hogwarts need your help in building a protective wall to keep the Death Eaters at bay. Finally the Lions Throne needs your help to destroy the castle walls of a rival kingdom. Only your wrecking ball is strong enough to take down the walls of the castle.
You are challenged to build a crane that can retrieve materials, move objects, and demolish towers. You will then put your crane to the test against all obstacles from across the lego universe. The first round will task you with rescueing the imprisoned Star Wars heroes who have been taken captive by the Empire. Then you will put your own wall building skills to the test to help the heros of Hogwarts build a wall Voldemort himself can’t tear down. Then in the third round you will have to destroy the castle walls of the Lion Kings arch rival and retrieve the stolen artifacts from deep inside the castle. If you can complete these challenges with speed, precision, and agility, you will be crowned the Hero of Lego World
Click on each link to learn more about each competition round!
Design Requirements
Crane Dimensions: Crane must be free standing and operated from a distance of at least 2 feet away. Crane dimensions (including boom applicable) in excess of 5ft must be approved by the committee prior to competition. The same crane must be used to compete in all 3 rounds of competition.
Crane Reach: All objectives will be placed within a 1.5x1.5ft square area and will range in height from on the floor to 2 ft off of the floor. The crane must be stationary and located outside of the square.
Cost: Budget of $50. Provided materials are not included in this budget. Teams can scavenge for parts, but must account for half the cost of said parts for the project’s Bill of Materials (BOM).
Example: If a team scavenges an extra motor that cost $12 if purchased, the cost assumed would be $6.
Wrecking Device: The wrecking device can be interchangeable with the lifting fixture that will be used primarily in the first two rounds. It is up to the team to devise how wrecking the tower will take place.
Crane Controls: Crane is required to be operated through use of the supplied Arduino. The only exception to this is if needed: the removal/replacement of the lifting fixture and the “wrecking ball”. This may be accomplished by human intervention.
Safety: Crane must pass the pre-competition safety inspection. For any questions or concerns be sure to ask first before incorporating something questionable into your design. Additionally, the crane must not be operated by anything exceeding 30V. Launching of the wrecking device will not be allowed.
Calculation of Final Score
The final score will be the sum of the total points from Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3. The poster board competition will be scored separately.
Poster Board & Presentation Competition
In addition to the performance test competition, a poster board must be created. This poster should be of professional quality, visually attractive, and demonstrate an understanding of the principles involved in the engineering design process. The maximum size of the poster board shall be no larger than one 3-Fold Poster Board or equivalent surface area of a 3-Fold Poster Board. A list of recommended criteria is given below:
1. Title
2. Team Name
3. Define the problem statement in your own words
4. Summarize the goal of the experiment and expected outcome (what can you achieve).
5. Describe your design process (Ex: brainstorming ideas, research conducted, assumptions, key decision areas, final design criteria, code excerpts, etc.)
6. Calculations (Show at least basic calculations that were used in the design process—for example, the overall reach of your crane)
7. Engineering Sketch or Engineering Diagram of your design.
8. Modifications available during competition (if applicable).
9. Budget and Bill of Materials (BOM).
10. Challenges faced during the project.
See Figure 5 for a poster board example. NOTE: the poster board does not need to be limited to this layout, teams are encouraged to be creative.
Teams are expected to utilize the poster while presenting a short pitch (5 minutes) to judges that all team members participate in.
Figure 5: Example Poster Board Layout
Competition Winners
There will be separate winners for both the performance test competition as well as the poster board competition. The scoring for each competition is completely separate and do not influence each other. The poster board competition and performance test competition will award prizes for 1st. All participants will receive a certificate of participation. Please note that this is subject to change this year pending our budget that remains in flux as we are sending this to you all.
Additional Notes
Any additional information will be delivered as soon as it becomes available. We plan to provide tutorial packages to the teams to help the students with the coding of their cranes, should they choose to use this method. We do not anticipate changes, however updates will be sent to the advisors of the teams if questions asked by any team needs clarification.
All information as it becomes available, including FAQs, will be posted here on the 2024 GD High School site. Please feel free to participate and collaborate on the forum on the website. For questions, send emails to: HSComp.Pittsfield@gd-ms.com