Slight challenge Twists

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I'd like to see challenges already completed be redone... with perhaps a slight "twist". For example, power boats... but they're all out of propellors... each team is given (and must use) two oars (perhaps even one oar) to both propel and steer the boat. Call it "Motor Row Boats". Perhaps one team uses two engines, or a single engine with mechanics to control motion, one leaves the oar in the water and rotates it 90 deg on forward, one lifts the oar out of the water... whatever, with rules to make it interesting and more difficult than simply attaching the oars to the output shafts of two gas engines (one engine, two engine, maximum weight etc.).

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), March 16, 2001

Answers

Oars attached to wheels. wheels at an angle.25deg or so. timed so that right and left oars cross center of boat at different times. think of a twin rotor helicopter (ch46 or chinook). the other would use hydraulics to row back and forth can't quite figure that one out though.

-- Stephen A. Binion (Stephenbinion@hotmail.com), March 18, 2001.

I doubt you'd see two similar designs for this challenge, especially since you'd be required to both steer and propel the boat with oar mechanics. Opportunity of the "big vs small" could easily happen with this challenge... it could also show kids how incredible the mechanics of the human body actually are, since it is usually us doing the rowing. Somewhat similar to walking machines... but on water.

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), March 18, 2001.


Design 1: Rowboat - engine to rear axle. Abbreviate the axle to keep the boat narrower. Attach an oval shaped cam to each. Attach oars to cam. Oars run through oarlocks on gunwales. Run the engine at low RPM and use a trammy to gear down even more...can you get to about 1-2 rpm output? Need a compression brake on each axle stub so you can slow it down for steering.

Design 2: "Sculling" engine. Engine to cam (trammy again), axel to circular cam. End motion should flat and side to side. Oar sticks straight back, held in oarlock on transom. With the side to side motion, this produces an action called sculling. Requires a keeled boat, but that shouldn't be difficult...maybe a daggerboard arrangement. Second oar for steering.

Doesn't sound overly complex....

Brian

-- Brian Flynn (bflynn@nc.rr.com), March 18, 2001.


Perhaps more complex than propeller based boats... you'd have to have a boat, powerplant and some type of mechanism to control the oars (drive and steering). I think "they" could do it in 10 hours.

cheers,

-- Max (Maxel@inwindsor.com), March 18, 2001.


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