AR2 A 288 shooter (Results)

[mark_man]

Sorry I'm late with the results had a film night with the kids
Thanks for giving it a go and a good turn out in the end
1st is Alex 1572
2nd rob1554
3rd bythelee 1530
4th paolof 1452
5th dec10 1382 ( I have tweaked to the same as Alex at 1572 )
Thanks again and well done

[Alex]

I want to say that during the construction realized that tie on the rope will be cheaper than the balance tower

level will later

[Votart Silak]

My congratulations, Alex!

[Votart Silak]

...continue...

[mark_man]

Tweaked a bit more

[decsystem10]

Nice tweak, Mark. (of mine)
I have to say I was working on the Alex version (I still had a top rope), but mine kept collapsing in the middle of the pillar.
Looking at the solutions, it's clear I was trying too hard to lean right to offset the rope.
Quite how your balance holds up through the impact I don't know!

[bythelee]

Congratulations, Alex! Excellent tower.

And two nice tweaks by Votart, too. The second one for 1602 looks particularly effortless.

...a good turn out in the end

And a missing sixth entry from Arunion, delayed by graphics card "upgrade" issues......

And two completely different strategies both had a chance of winning. Great challenge.

The counter-intuitive effect is that the taller the tower, the more the inertia works in your favour to keep things balancing upright. And, the mass of the dillo becomes less and less signifcant against the rotational inertia of a really big tower, like these ones. That's why the dillo impacts and shenanigans at the top of a long wobbling tower don't have much effect on the movement of the centre of mass of that tower. And, so many nodes to tweak makes it super-easy to tune the balance to be just as you want it.
If only the bottom anchor had been a few cm to one side or the other.....

Meanwhile....
I figured I'd need less material for a cantilever than a tower, but the dropping counterweight / deflector plate costs too much in the end. The long rope segment in Mark_man's tweak (for $1550) costs $42. That's the win right there.....
Now that I've seen how a loose dropped plate can deflect the dillo, I have ideas for improving it. It most needed a "deployable counterweight", such as a hinged section of backbone (a simple interlocking beam might be suitable), because the delayed dillo release means a cantilever balanced for a dillo will have rotated too far before the dillo arrives. The simple release of the plate I used is a further unnecessary $20 expense.
I'm still wrestling with the exact details, but it feels like a perfectly timed cantilever could have won this.
Thoughts, anyone?

EDIT: Something like the two failing attachments......

[bythelee]

the cantilever idea seems proven.

Got one to work for 1610, and it's a bit belts 'n braces.
Tweaked it to 1622, and still room to save more if you can find a slower counterweight deployment.
I had a theoretical solution for 1642, too, but it deploys much too early.
Does anyone think a tower could be improved this far?


Now, if I could just find that elusive crystal ball, so that hindsight could become foresight!

[mark_man]

Not to 1622 no ,now why didn't you do this before the end of the comp

[Votart Silak]

...continue...

[bythelee]

Not to 1622 no ,now why didn't you do this before the end of the comp

Answer:

Now, if I could just find that elusive crystal ball, so that hindsight could become foresight!

And, thanks for the agreement.


I stupidly convinced myself that using the plate deflector as part of the counterweight had to be the cheapest way. Doh!
The ultra-cheap (and ultra-light) catcher is also an evolution of Mark_man's tweak - I'm not sure I would have found that on my own.
And, I couldn't see how to build a deploying counterweight. As it is, it still needs the disposable aid at the catcher to delay it long enough. There must be a better way, but the point seems proven. Time to focus on Alex's Egg.


So, I had too many things to improve as a system, and my mind is not working well at the moment.

Nevermind, Alex deserves his win.

[bythelee]

Took a break from Egg, because I couldn't get the cantilever out of my mind.

Managed to take out the ballast weight at the catcher.
Plus, the shock loads were timed to not break the top tension elements while removing the second support rope. Big saving.
And added an unfolding contraption that gets enough weight, far enough out, to do the job.

Think this one seals the potential win for the cantilever..... 1660

Can't quite believe this is $130 better than the effort that I thought was "pretty good".