Egg Drop
Download information on this page here Welcome to the Tau Beta Pi Egg Drop! For those of you who haven't heard of it, Egg Drop is an engineering design challenge open to all Stanford students. The aim is deceptively simple - you need to design a device to protect a raw egg from cracking after a five-storey drop.
Winners will be determined by the scoring formula explained below. The three highest scoring entries will be awarded a prize. There is an additional prize for the design that shows the highest degree of creativity. Come exhibit your creativity and design skills during an afternoon that promises to be awesome! (Come on, you know you've always wanted to throw eggs of a building!)
Logistics
What? Construct a device that will protect up to an egg cracking during a five-storey fall. Multiple eggs and multiple drops are allowed. When? Saturday, May 2nd at 1:00 PM Where? 5th floor, Terman Engineering Building Why? $100 1st prize $50 2nd prize $25 3rd prize $50 for the most creative entry
All prizes will be split equally between all members of a team.
Eligibility and Restriction
Scoring
The rules may appear complicated, but they boil down to these points: You are scored on Weight, Accuracy, and Time, relative to the top performer in each category. These scores are summed together, and subsequently multiplied by an Integrity factor, which is based on number of eggs supported by your device (up to two) and number of eggs which survive. Finally, there are bonus points for creative and reusable devices.
1. Integrity (10x multiplier) NEW RULE - You may drop either one or two eggs, but how many stay intact? · 2 eggs attempted, 2 eggs intact - 10x final score · 1 egg attempted, 1 egg intact - 8x final score · 2 eggs attempted, 1 egg intact - 6x final score · 0 eggs intact - 0 points
2. Weight (200 points) - As design is an important element, we want you to reduce the weight of your design as much as possible. The lightest design will receive full points, the heaviest zero and all the rest in between using the following equation:
Weight score = 200 - 200 * (R - 1) /(N-1) where N is the number of contestants and R is the rank of the device in terms of weight, with the lightest device being 1 and the heaviest N.
3. Accuracy (200 points) - A target will be placed on the ground and you must aim your device such that it lands as close to the target as possible. As with the weight score, the most accurate drop will receive full points and the least accurate zero.
Accuracy score = 200 - 200 * (R - 1) /(N-1) where N is the number of contestants and R is the rank of the team in terms of accuracy with the most accurate team being 1 and the least accurate N.
4. Time (200 points) · If you can get your device to fall within 1 second of the fastest drop, you will get 200 points. · If you are within 3 seconds, you will get 100 points. · Otherwise you will receive 0.
5. Creativity (250 points, not affected by integrity multiplier) - This one is completely up to the subjective views of the judges. A panel of judges will award points for each entry on a scale from 1 to 10 and the average score will be multiplied by 25. This score will also be used to decide the winners of the Most Creative category.
6.
Repetition (750
point wager, not affected
by integrity multiplier) NEW
RULE - You may wager any amount up to 750
points on a "repeat drop" using the same device, with one egg. If the
egg survives the second drop, you will earn points equal to the amount wagered;
otherwise you lose that many points. All wagers will be submitted
simultaneously, after the first round of drops.
7. Total Score - (Weight+Accuracy+Time)*Integrity + Creativity + Repetition
Rules - Eggs and Devices
1. Materials - you can use any materials as long as they don't involve a motor and/or electronics. 2. Size - the only size constraint is that the device must be 2ft by 2ft by 2ft cube before being dropped; It can expand to any size during the fall. 3. Eggs will be provided by Tau Beta Pi at the event. No pre-loaded devices will be accepted. 4. Once the device has been submitted for weighing, no changes will be allowed to it. 5. All devices must be safe, as determined by the judges. There should be no danger to spectators, the pavement, the building or anything else in the vicinity. For example, they can't be heavy enough to harm spectators. 6. The device cannot attach to the building in any way. It must fall independently.
Disqualification
1. Any violation of the rules above will lead to disqualification. 2. In particular, teams that the judges feel have violated safety considerations and/or the spirit of the competition will be disqualified 3. Any team whose device hits the walls during the fall will be disqualified.
Other Information
1. DO NOT use Terman building for testing your devices - the event was almost canceled four years ago because of the mess testing teams left behind. 2. Tau Beta Pi reserves the right to modify the rules at any time 3. Please bring your friends to the competition - The more spectators there are the more awesome it's going to be!
Questions about rules? Email Ben at bhsieh@stanford.edu Other questions? Email Molong at molong@stanford.edu |
