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Subject: 
Re: Sumo-Train Competition
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
Date: 
Wed, 8 May 2002 15:49:10 GMT
Viewed: 
472 times
  
All right, I'm piping up. It sounds like a great idea, and a good excuse
for me to get some train parts. I'm not clear on what Ben meant about
the track configuration though. I was thinking that it could have two
tracks in parallel, and they could be loops, but the rails would not join.

For the train heads: Does a cross rail (a "t") make any kind of
electrical connection? What about a switch? And, can you get level
crossings at angles other than 90 degrees? If so, the track could be a
folded figure-eight.

Larry Pieniazek wrote:

In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Frank Filz writes:

Larry Pieniazek wrote:

In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Benjamin Medinets writes:

I was thinking this morning how cool it would be to have this kind of
competition.

Imagine this:

RCX controlled train...3 cars, first car would have the train motor (train
engine car), second car would have the RCX (coal car), and the third car
would have the mechanism to knock off your buddy's/competitor's train off
his/her tracks ("crane car")

Tracks would be generally parallel in a "large-size" double loop.
The tracks would not be "powered" only by the power in the RCX.

One problem with a parallel double loop is that with only one curve
radius, you don't get a real "parallel" curve.


True, but that's a problem for the crane arm designer to take into account.
Done properly it may actually be something to take advantage of!


Points would be 20 points for knocking off the engine or crane car.  30
points (for increased difficulty, more tension and torque) for knocking off
the coal car.

So how does this sound for a future competition.
To me, it sounds like fun and generally not too complicated.

This sounds absolutely hilarious. One suggestion I would have might be to
have two crossovers so each competitor spent 1/2 of its time on the inside
of the "oval" and 1/2 on the outside. My suspicion is that the crane boom
swinging packs a lot more mo when swung outwards as you're rounding a curve
than it does when swung inwards.

A double figure 8 would easily get an "even" fight.


Do you mean the kind that has 4 crossings? I'm thinking you could do it with
just one crossing if you sort of fold one lobe over the other (around the
outside... LMK if you need a .tdl to see what I mean), but that of course
means just one speed reg. Your idea allows for independent control.


You then start each
train on the outside track of one of the lobes. I would also say that
the train which collides into the side of the other train at a crossing
loses 50 points or something.


Well, that's not what they do with figure 8 schoolbus racing (yes, Virginia,
there is such a thing in real life, it's done in Florida of all places).

In that sort of race, there's no penalty for collisions, just the
consequences of hitting/getting hit. If you can't get across the cross fast
enough, too bad for you, you get corked. Maybe you keep going and maybe you
don't. School bus bodies are somewhat like tissue paper (in some ways) at 60
MPH. Depending on where you were struck it may not matter at all, except for
increasing the breeze that the operator feels.

Note that this does not make me feel at ALL good about the fact that both my
kids ride school buses to school every day, but I digress.

We may be veering off into off-topic.something.or.another... Especially if
none of the actual rtlToronto-ers pipe up in support of the original post's
original idea from Benjamin.




Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Sumo-Train Competition
 
(...) That's what I was thinking in the original "spirit of the game". (...) The track (I think) is electricly isolated from each end...if there was a electrical connection, then the track would short out due to polarity. What about a switch? I (...) (22 years ago, 9-May-02, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Sumo-Train Competition
 
(...) True, but that's a problem for the crane arm designer to take into account. Done properly it may actually be something to take advantage of! (...) Do you mean the kind that has 4 crossings? I'm thinking you could do it with just one crossing (...) (22 years ago, 8-May-02, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)

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