Well it took about 2 1/2 weeks of brainstorming before they even began to create prototypes...the game was SO COMPLEX it was very hard to comprehend! Check this description out:
The BEST Octane Research Team is issuing the following call for assistance. Teams of pre-collegiate students are invited to contrive strategies and associated robots to maximize production of isooctane in a resource restricted environment. The strategies and automated units will be demonstrated concurrently with other teams’ designs within strict time limits in order to prove that the processes can be conducted safely and efficiently even when raw reactants are limited. As in the real-world, no points will be awarded. Rather, the relative strength of each team’s design will be measured by the accumulated inventory of reactants, intermediate products, and final product at the end of the competition event.
The competition event (i.e., game day) will consist of three stages: the seeding competition, the semi-finals, and the finals. After each stage, the teams with the most valuable inventory will continue to the next stage of testing.
2.0 Game Objective
During the demonstrations, the objective is for teams to collect and employ common molecules (CO2, H20) and essential resources (energy, catalysts) to complete a series of chemical reactions. The eventual goal is to produce isooctane, or alternatively, the lesser valued naphtha. Intermediate products (ethylene, benzene) that are generated in the process are retained in the team’s inventory for later use.
During the seeding competition, teams will collect H20, Catalysts, Energy, and CO2 in an effort to synthesize ethylene molecules according to the reaction equation:
[Equation 1] 2 CO2 + 2 H20+ Energy + Catalyst -> C2H4 (ethylene) + 3 O2
In other words, it takes two CO2 units, plus two H20 units, plus one Energy unit, plus one Catalyst unit to produce a single unit of ethylene and oxygen (which is altogether ignored in these demonstrations).
Advancing teams will use their previously accumulated ethylene (a maximum inventory of three units can be carried over from the seeding rounds) and ethylene that they can synthesize during their matches to synthesize as much benzene as possible according to the reaction equation:
[Equation 2] 3 C2H4 + Energy + Catalyst -> C6H6 (benzene) + 3 H2
As with the O2 in Equation 1, the H2 product is waste gas and is not added to inventory. Teams can then choose to apply Benzene to two final objectives. They can either synthesize naphtha by:
[Equation 3] C6H6 + 4 H2 + Energy + Catalyst -> C6H14 (naphtha)
Or they can employ additional ethylene to make the more valuable isooctane according to the reaction:
[Equation 4] C6H6 + C2H4 + 4H2 + Energy + Catalyst -> C8H18 (isooctane)
Teams are not restricted to any one of the above reactions during any stage of the competition event. They are free to pursue any of the reactions that their inventory and available reactants/resources might allow them to complete. For example, it is theoretically possible during seeding for teams to produce sufficient quantity of ethylene such that benzene can be generated.
2.0 Game Objective
During the demonstrations, the objective is for teams to collect and employ common molecules (CO2, H20) and essential resources (energy, catalysts) to complete a series of chemical reactions. The eventual goal is to produce isooctane, or alternatively, the lesser valued naphtha. Intermediate products (ethylene, benzene) that are generated in the process are retained in the team’s inventory for later use.
During the seeding competition, teams will collect H20, Catalysts, Energy, and CO2 in an effort to synthesize ethylene molecules according to the reaction equation:
[Equation 1] 2 CO2 + 2 H20+ Energy + Catalyst -> C2H4 (ethylene) + 3 O2
In other words, it takes two CO2 units, plus two H20 units, plus one Energy unit, plus one Catalyst unit to produce a single unit of ethylene and oxygen (which is altogether ignored in these demonstrations).
Advancing teams will use their previously accumulated ethylene (a maximum inventory of three units can be carried over from the seeding rounds) and ethylene that they can synthesize during their matches to synthesize as much benzene as possible according to the reaction equation:
[Equation 2] 3 C2H4 + Energy + Catalyst -> C6H6 (benzene) + 3 H2
As with the O2 in Equation 1, the H2 product is waste gas and is not added to inventory. Teams can then choose to apply Benzene to two final objectives. They can either synthesize naphtha by:
[Equation 3] C6H6 + 4 H2 + Energy + Catalyst -> C6H14 (naphtha)
Or they can employ additional ethylene to make the more valuable isooctane according to the reaction:
[Equation 4] C6H6 + C2H4 + 4H2 + Energy + Catalyst -> C8H18 (isooctane)
Teams are not restricted to any one of the above reactions during any stage of the competition event. They are free to pursue any of the reactions that their inventory and available reactants/resources might allow them to complete. For example, it is theoretically possible during seeding for teams to produce sufficient quantity of ethylene such that benzene can be generated.
-----------and that's only PART of the information these 11 to 18 year olds had to read, comprehend, and build a robot to do! Plus the week before competition...they would receive an e-mail where something on the field was changed...like the height of something, location, or some other obstacle!
Here are the full details if you are intrigued by chance:
http://www.bestinc.org/MVC/FileManagement/download?file=602
Check out the scoring sheet...jeesh that alone made me shiver lol
http://www.bestinc.org/MVC/FileManagement/download?file=672
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...can you believe this?! wow! One of the mentors devised a very complicated oral test for any of the students wanting to be a 'spotter' (i.e. tell the driver which items to pick up)...after 5 weeks still only a few of the students understood the challenge well enough to qualify as a spotter!! They had to think FAST and accurately...and the competition only took 3 minutes for each round!!!
lace in robotic competition going into the semi-finals!!! It is so exciting! ...not sure how we are doing on BEST award ... will find that out this evening!
