The challenge would be to build a vehicle to carry a single person over an obstacle course. The course would include a 2m (a little over 6 ft) wall, a 2m deep and wide trench (filled with water?), and a 10m run of mud. This would be a relay race, each team member getting a try.

-- Daniel Gallant (dgallant@startech.com), February 20, 2001

Answers

Sounds like you want the team to make an articulating vehicle to handle changes in verticle and horizontal axis. Deep mud and a water obsticle...you would need to recreate a BV 206 all terrain vehicle.

The junkyard should be salted with some snow mobiles or similar devices to supply tracks, and the teams will need the usual engine, transmission (prefferably 4WD with transfer case), and some hydraulics to either steer the beast, or at least control the two (or more) pieces, if tracks and skid steering is used.

Light, waterproof fiberglass van roofs would be good for each half vehicle, but would need some sort of re-enforcing frame to mount engine, tracks, etc., as well as to handle the stress of bashing about the course.

The only thing that would be very hard to do would be to climb a 2m wall. I can't think of any sort of machine that can climb a 2m wall (even tanks are usually limited to 1m). Either they could drive around (loose points), or perhaps the step should be 1m.

A separate challenge to make a vehicle that can climb over a 2m wall might be fun as well.

-- Arthur Majoor (a_majoor@hotmail.com), February 21, 2001.

How about changing the 2m wall to a 2-4m obstacle shaped like a pyramid? 45 degree climbs and drops with a 90degree angle at the top (i.e. no flat bit, just 45 up, then 45 down...)?

-- Daniel Gallant (dgallant@startech.com), February 21, 2001.