Lego E-formula competition idea

[nicjasno]

24 minutes ago, mocbuild101 said:

That's only with very large models (like you make), so don't put us off using them...

I'm not trying to do that.

But in order to be technically interesting, the cars need to have at least some form of complexity (suspension/steering/brakes).

In an ideal situation, what kind of speeds do you reckon a lightweight e-racecar could achieve?

[mocbuild101]

1 hour ago, nicjasno said:

But in order to be technically interesting, the cars need to have at least some form of complexity (suspension/steering/brakes).

That can be done in a electrically powered vehicle.

1 hour ago, nicjasno said:

In an ideal situation, what kind of speeds do you reckon a lightweight e-racecar could achieve?

Possibly up to 15km/h with PF, and 20km/h+ with buggy motors. (but we can't use those here)

[PunkTacoNYC]

1 hour ago, LXF said:

Imho the track is a great idea, if people just show videos of performance we can't judge correctly because these won't be the same tests.

1

Well, granted, this entire competition is online, which inherently limits our ability to judge correctly. It would require MUCH more planning, organization, work and therefore time to do this competition if we were being exact to the point where we thought that everything was "fair" and "standardized."

1 hour ago, LXF said:

It's not the same racing a track and just showing how a car can turn. While racing you need to take care about speed ups and slow downs (one needs to stop accelerating when entering a curve and accelerate when exiting). 

 

Keep in mind that these are Lego cars that are not even using buggy motors or BuWizzes or anything, so it is nearly impossible to make a Lego car that has enough speed or simply overall performance that it would need to be controlled as if it were a real RC. 

And, even if we decided to be this exact and use some sort of complex track design that everyone had to assemble, how do we fairly judge? Yes, watch the video. But who is to say someone will not simply do multiple takes of the car doing each part of the track and stitching together only the best takes. That certainly won't be fair and there will be almost no way of controlling for it. Thus, I think we need to relax on the track restrictions as we can only be so thorough in an internet-based competition.

LXF, I am not targeting you in any way. I am simply using your points as a springboard for mine.

[mocbuild101]

6 minutes ago, PunkTacoNYC said:

And, even if we decided to be this exact and use some sort of complex track design that everyone had to assemble, how do we fairly judge? Yes, watch the video. But who is to say someone will not simply do multiple takes of the car doing each part of the track and stitching together only the best takes. That certainly won't be fair and there will be almost no way of controlling for it. Thus, I think we need to relax on the track restrictions as we can only be so thorough in an internet-based competition.

Good point! If we didn't need to use a specific track, we would be able to request a single shot video (as a rule).

[syclone]

Just now, mocbuild101 said:

Good point! If we didn't need to use a specific track, we would be able to request a single shot video (as a rule).

If you have a track you should shoot from above to make a good demonstration, making stitching together different videos almost impossible. it is very easy to stitch together videos that don't have any references like a track has.

[mocbuild101]

2 minutes ago, LXF said:

If you have a track you should shoot from above to make a good demonstration, making stitching together different videos almost impossible. it is very easy to stitch together videos that don't have any references like a track has.

Yes, but the point is, it would be easier without having to fit a specific size track in the video.

Also with a track, it actually would be easier to stitch the videos together - because the car would drive in exactly the same place. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by mocbuild101

[csnorbi]

Hello guys!

I'm new here. Did you actually agree in the rules or something( I haven't read all the 11 pages)? This whole thing seems pretty interesting to me, I would participate in a race like this.

[Bostons Brick Closet]

Great Idea, I am also interesting in trying to do this competition... One rule I disagreed with was no third function that affects driving...  I think that allowing this would boost creativity. For the track I like the same track Idea. If we keep the track in a few meters square size and draw with chalk I can see everyone being able to do it. Am I wrong?

 

[Aventador2004]

5 hours ago, Bostons Brick Closet said:

 If we keep the track in a few meters square size and draw with chalk I can see everyone being able to do it. Am I wrong?

Am I wrong, for thinking that we could be something for real, (yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) ohh...

I do it all the time, and I think most people can handle chalk...

 

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Aventador2004

[csnorbi]

Are the final rules out? When will be the race held? Or we just plan it out... ?

Also, the voting says that the online race and the physical race is tied, so what are we going to do?Although, I guess we can't meet all at one place...
Please respond, don't really want to read this whole 11 pages! Thanks!

[csnorbi]

On 2017. 06. 13. at 6:08 PM, Zero (Zblj) said:

Hi everyone, sorry for the late reply, had a busy week

Here's the final draft for the rules:

• Max wheels to be used are 62.4 ones to keep models in small scale
• Max width of the cars 25 studs (20 cm) - in order to be able to overtake each other on the track and to keep models small
• Use any PF motor in any quantity
• Use any PF power source - AA battery box provides higher voltage, Li-po voltage is lower, but so is its weight
• Third and fourth functions are allowed as long as they don't directly help with driving - you can use it for switching gears, adjusting suspension, relasing springs for boost etc...
• Models should use classical steering, but additional torque vectoring on the drive wheels is allowed
• Sbrick is allowed
• Only 100% unmodified Lego is allowed, no modifying, gluing, etc, only exception being Sbrick and third party string
• No bare chassis allowed
• Seperate points for aesthetics - the better the looking the model, the higher distance from start the model can be placed ahead (open to voting on forums)

For track I was planning to post the idea of:

• Having a standard width of the track 50 cm
• Track should include at least one 2 meter long straight - fast models will have advantage here
• Corners should be made with radius of 50 cm - agile models will have advantage here
• Largest ascend/descend of 15 degrees - models with high torque will have advantage at ascends
• Largest straight edge obstacles is 5 milimiters high - models with suspension and AWD will have advantage here
• Track material should be hard wood, stone or composite, no carpet allowed
• Track setup will be posted on the forums, so anyone can set up such a track in order to compete remotely

 

These are the rules?

[mocbuild101]

13 minutes ago, csnorbi said:

These are the rules?

I think so, but we haven't confirmed it yet...

 

[Bostons Brick Closet]

I really think that 3rd and 4th Functions should be allowed to help driving. It could really foster creativity.

[Zerobricks]

Hi everyone

Sorry for the lack of updates in this topic, I will return to it as soon as I return from holidays

[letsbuild]

Well, I'm going to bump this topic.

We had a great start to this competition, and after reading through the last few pages, here's some recaps before I get to my point.

1. The idea was given to make a basic chassis for every entry to use, kind of like formula E, but this was rejected, in part, because some specialized parts were lacking from people's collections.

2. Scale was greatly debated, going from 1:10, to 1:8, to somewhere in between, to 1:18, and finally to wheel size. First suggested was a max size of 62.4, which are not very competitive wheels, then maybe making a class for cars with tires larger than that. 

3. There were suggestions to make multiple classes, but this was also shot down because it introduces the illusion of multiple classes. 

4. Electronics were restricted to PF Receiver, SBrick and base PF motors, all powered by Lego power supplies. 

The final rules about car chassis, as detailed by @Zerobricks, are found here:

Quote

• Max wheels to be used are 62.4 ones to keep models in small scale
• Max width of the cars 25 studs (20 cm) - in order to be able to overtake each other on the track and to keep models small
• Use any PF motor in any quantity
• Use any PF power source - AA battery box provides higher voltage, Li-po voltage is lower, but so is its weight
• Third and fourth functions are allowed as long as they don't directly help with driving - you can use it for switching gears, adjusting suspension, relasing springs for boost etc...
• Models should use classical steering, but additional torque vectoring on the drive wheels is allowed
• Sbrick is allowed
• Only 100% unmodified Lego is allowed, no modifying, gluing, etc, only exception being Sbrick and third party string
• No bare chassis allowed
• Seperate points for aesthetics - the better the looking the model, the higher distance from start the model can be placed ahead (open to voting on forums)

As for the racetrack, these are the proposed rules:

Quote

• Having a standard width of the track 50 cm
• Track should include at least one 2 meter long straight - fast models will have advantage here
• Corners should be made with radius of 50 cm - agile models will have advantage here
• Largest ascend/descend of 15 degrees - models with high torque will have advantage at ascends
• Largest straight edge obstacles is 5 millimiters high - models with suspension and AWD will have advantage here
• Track material should be hard wood, stone or composite, no carpet allowed
• Track setup will be posted on the forums, so anyone can set up such a track in order to compete remotely

The problem with these rules, as brought up earlier by some members, is that it can be easily falsified and cheated. I do like that they factor in all aspects of drive for a car: Torque, speed, weight, suspension, durability, agility, and drive type. I don't have a better solution, but I would like to hear from all y'all.

All in all, this competition was very near completion, and it just needs that little edge. Would it be worth trying again? I'm definitely interested, and if there are enough members also interested, I think we should go ahead and try this.

[syclone]

1... tbh wondering where all the enthusiasm of this forum has gone 

[Zerobricks]

It seems there is less interest for such cooperative topics nowadays. I am willing to give it another try though, if there will be interest.

[letsbuild]

4 hours ago, Zerobricks said:

It seems there is less interest for such cooperative topics nowadays.

I guess so.

 

[TechnicRCRacer]

I want to try this again, it sounds like a great idea! I just think that setting up a racetrack may be hard for some people and instead people could just make a video showing what it can do on an empty floor. 

[letsbuild]

24 minutes ago, TechnicRCRacer said:

I want to try this again, it sounds like a great idea! I just think that setting up a racetrack may be hard for some people and instead people could just make a video showing what it can do on an empty floor. 

That is a fair idea, but the whole point of the racetrack was to create a standardized way of judging the vehicles.

[MangaNOID]

7 hours ago, Zerobricks said:

It seems there is less interest for such cooperative topics nowadays. I am willing to give it another try though, if there will be interest.

I think it may be hard to gain interest in competitions that are not TC or official Eurobricks contests as the last two challenges, the AMS_1 and 2  (started by @letsbuild) on the technic forum that I remember (and entered) (beside the buwizz comps that have great prizes) have been unfinished after all the effort that went in from contestants. not that that's the be all and end all of course but its a bit 'WTF' you know.