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URC Blog - Day 1
Continuous updates from Day 1 of the 2009 University Rover Challenge
Thursday, May 28 @ 19:00 MST: All teams except Warsaw University, whose
rover is still in transit, weighed in this afternoon. Returning
champions Oregon State were the first to go, and came in at an
excellent 49.1 kilograms - just below the 50 kilogram weight limit:
Next up was 2007 URC winners and 2008 second-place finishers University of Nevada, Reno, who finished well under the 50 kilogram limit:
UNR was the first team to have a separately weighed module, which came in well below the 20 kilogram weigh limit set for that component - due in part to the fact that they employed Legos as part of their design:
Brigham Young University, who were unable to compete in all events in the 2008 URC due to last-minute systems failures, also came in under the 50 kilogram limit:
...as did Georgia Tech, who also competed in the 2008 URC:
The York University team, who finished in third place in the 2008 URC, were the first team to come in over the weight limit, barely exceeding it at a heft of 52.3 kilograms:
Unless the York team can find a way to drop the 2.3 kilograms of extra weight from their rover overnight, they will be docked 12 points - a 10-point penalty for being overweight, plus one point for each full kilogram above 50.
Rounding out the weigh-ins was the UCLA rover, which came in at a startlingly high 68 kilograms:
Barring an overnight design overhaul that sheds 18 kilograms, the UCLA team faces a penalty of 28 points for tomorrow morning's first event.
Thursday, May 28 @ 17:00 MST: The Warsaw University of Technology team has arrived, with the main body of their rover still in transit, and is obviously quite professional - they have a full video rig, high-quality brochures in Polish and English, and have been discussing the intricacies of rover construction with each of the rest of the teams that have come by the habitat. Inspecting their antenna, they confirmed one of the great truisms of construction - space or otherwise - "It's got a lot of duct tape, but it works."
Thursday, May 28 @ 15:00 MST: With the help of the Oregon State University team, the judges' tent - situated within 20 feet of the habitat - has gone up:
...despite some brief technical difficulties with one of the tent's stakes, which had its hook shear off as it was being hammered into the rock-hard desert soil:
Teams will be performing their weigh-ins between 16:30 and 18:00 local time; images from the weigh-in, as well as team introductory videos, will be posted afterwards.
Thursday, May 28 @ 11:00 MST: The preliminaries of the competition began as teams gathered outside of the Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville, Utah for their introductory briefing:
URC Director Kevin Sloan gave the teams directions to the habitat, including precautions about the dirt road between Utah route 24 and the habitat itself, which had degraded considerably due to record amounts of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday:
After this and a preliminary schedule overview, teams were told to prepare for a 16:30 weigh-in time, and were given the opportunity to visit the habitat and the competition sites, to begin their preparations for tomorrow's events.
Next up was 2007 URC winners and 2008 second-place finishers University of Nevada, Reno, who finished well under the 50 kilogram limit:
UNR was the first team to have a separately weighed module, which came in well below the 20 kilogram weigh limit set for that component - due in part to the fact that they employed Legos as part of their design:
Brigham Young University, who were unable to compete in all events in the 2008 URC due to last-minute systems failures, also came in under the 50 kilogram limit:
...as did Georgia Tech, who also competed in the 2008 URC:
The York University team, who finished in third place in the 2008 URC, were the first team to come in over the weight limit, barely exceeding it at a heft of 52.3 kilograms:
Unless the York team can find a way to drop the 2.3 kilograms of extra weight from their rover overnight, they will be docked 12 points - a 10-point penalty for being overweight, plus one point for each full kilogram above 50.
Rounding out the weigh-ins was the UCLA rover, which came in at a startlingly high 68 kilograms:
Barring an overnight design overhaul that sheds 18 kilograms, the UCLA team faces a penalty of 28 points for tomorrow morning's first event.
Thursday, May 28 @ 17:00 MST: The Warsaw University of Technology team has arrived, with the main body of their rover still in transit, and is obviously quite professional - they have a full video rig, high-quality brochures in Polish and English, and have been discussing the intricacies of rover construction with each of the rest of the teams that have come by the habitat. Inspecting their antenna, they confirmed one of the great truisms of construction - space or otherwise - "It's got a lot of duct tape, but it works."
Thursday, May 28 @ 15:00 MST: With the help of the Oregon State University team, the judges' tent - situated within 20 feet of the habitat - has gone up:
...despite some brief technical difficulties with one of the tent's stakes, which had its hook shear off as it was being hammered into the rock-hard desert soil:
Teams will be performing their weigh-ins between 16:30 and 18:00 local time; images from the weigh-in, as well as team introductory videos, will be posted afterwards.
Thursday, May 28 @ 11:00 MST: The preliminaries of the competition began as teams gathered outside of the Whispering Sands Motel in Hanksville, Utah for their introductory briefing:
URC Director Kevin Sloan gave the teams directions to the habitat, including precautions about the dirt road between Utah route 24 and the habitat itself, which had degraded considerably due to record amounts of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday:
After this and a preliminary schedule overview, teams were told to prepare for a 16:30 weigh-in time, and were given the opportunity to visit the habitat and the competition sites, to begin their preparations for tomorrow's events.
The Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate a Success!
