Nerdy Derby Track

[Pete Prodoehl]

Hello Race Fans!

I talked to Buggs about the track, he was called out of town for something, but will bring the track in to the space soon.

BUT! He also said that using the track to test your car is considered "cheating" in a real derby race.

So... do we want to adhere to that idea, or not?

We do have the small test track piece Jim made to check the wheel base, car clearance, etc. Will that be good enough for everyone, and we can then hold off until the real race to see if your car fails or is totally awesome?


Pete

[Shane]

As long as we know our cars fit on the track, I think we should stick
to the rules.

It's a bit more exciting that way.

[Jerry [HM]]

 

What is this talk of ‘cheating’?

 

Thought there were no rules??

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[Have Blue]

Whoa, hold on... what's all this about 'rules'?! I thought this was
Nerdy Derby (spoken in a monster truck announcer voice), not 'My Little
Derby'!

I kid, I kid - I like the idea of adding a bit of mystery and utter
randomness. I vote for excitement.

[Shane]

*Mutters: I still think we need a wall of fire....*

[Jerry [HM]]

SHANE FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!

--

[Pete Prodoehl]

I agree... if the track is set up at the space, that gives any member extra privileges to tweak and refine things.

Of course Kevin already has the winning car from what I've heard.


Pete

[Kevin Bastyr]

Well, i can't make it to the race, and no one volunteered to "drive" my car, so it may remain forever a mystery.

Sent from my mobile telephone device.

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[Shane]

As long as we can do entries by proxy, I'll drive your car, Kevin.







...and I'll WIN, too. ;)

On Sep 27, 11:39 am, Kevin Bastyr <kevinbas...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, i can't make it to the race, and no one volunteered to "drive" my
> car, so it may remain forever a mystery.
>
> Sent from my mobile telephone device.
> On Sep 27, 2012 11:36 AM, "Pete Prodoehl" <ras...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I agree... if the track is set up at the space, that gives any member
> > extra privileges to tweak and refine things.
>
> > Of course Kevin already has the winning car from what I've heard.
>
> > Pete
>
> > On 9/27/12 11:25 AM, Have Blue wrote:
>
> > Whoa, hold on...  what's all this about 'rules'?!  I thought this was
> > Nerdy Derby (spoken in a monster truck announcer voice), not 'My Little
> > Derby'!
>
> > I kid, I kid - I like the idea of adding a bit of mystery and utter
> > randomness.  I vote for excitement.
>
> > On 9/27/2012 11:14 AM, Shane wrote:
>
> > As long as we know our cars fit on the track, I think we should stick
> > to the rules.
>
> > It's a bit more exciting that way.
>

> > On Sep 27, 11:11 am, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com> <ras...@gmail.com>wrote:

[Pete Prodoehl]

If Jim's car works as well as it did last week, we'll have at least a small wall of fire.


Pete

[Pete Prodoehl]

Go for it!

And yeah, since I was Kevin's proxy last time, it's your turn. :)


Pete

[Shane]

Last time? Have you guys done the ND before? How was it?

On Sep 27, 12:16 pm, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Go for it!
> And yeah, since I was Kevin's proxy last time, it's your turn. :)

> PeteOn 9/27/12 11:48 AM, Shane wrote:
>
> As long as we can do entries by proxy, I'll drive your car, Kevin. ...and I'll WIN, too. ;) On Sep 27, 11:39 am, Kevin Bastyr<kevinbas...@gmail.com>wrote:Well, i can't make it to the race, and no one volunteered to "drive" my car, so it may remain forever a mystery. Sent from my mobile telephone device. On Sep 27, 2012 11:36 AM, "Pete Prodoehl"<ras...@gmail.com>wrote:I agree... if the track is set up at the space, that gives any member extra privileges to tweak and refine things.Of course Kevin already has the winning car from what I've heard.PeteOn 9/27/12 11:25 AM, Have Blue wrote:Whoa, hold on...  what's all this about 'rules'?!  I thought this was Nerdy Derby (spoken in a monster truck announcer voice), not 'My Little Derby'!I kid, I kid - I like the idea of adding a bit of mystery and utter randomness.  I vote for excitement.On 9/27/2012 11:14 AM, Shane wrote:As long as we know our cars fit on the track, I think we should stick to the rules.It's a bit more exciting that way.On Sep 27, 11:11 am, Pete Prodoehl<ras...@gmail.com><ras...@gmail.com>wrote:Hello Race Fans! I talked to Buggs about the track, he was called out of town for something, but will bring the track in to the space soon. BUT! He also said that using the track to test your car is considered "cheating" in a real derby race. So... do we want to adhere to that idea, or not? We do have the small test track piece Jim made to check the wheel base, car clearance, etc. Will that be good enough for everyone, and we can then hold off until the real race to see if your car fails or is totally awesome? Pete --

[Pete Prodoehl]

I was Kevin's proxy for the One Tool show at Sweetwater.

I had to explain to everyone how he carved that wooden table with a plastic spoon.

I think that's how he did it...


Pete

[Brent Bublitz]

I just want something to check my car clearance and see how it tracks.
If we have a test piece for that, then fine.

> --
>
>
>

[Kevin Bastyr]

Thanks, Shane!  I will build it under the cover of darkness and deliver it to you in a locked box!  Please take many pictures and be sure to write a blog post about your experience!

--

[Jim Rawson]

There have been rumors that Kevin has been working tirelessly on his creation.

[Jim Rawson]

I vote for pre-qualifying the track.    Evidently replacing a 0.1 uF Cap with a 100 uF Cap causes problems with the motor control circuit.  I may need gravity.

[Tom Gralewicz]

2 things that cause the magic smoke to come out of capacitors:

Reversed polarity

Too much voltage

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 9:39 AM, Jim Rawson <taxi...@gmail.com> wrote:

I vote for pre-qualifying the track.    Evidently replacing a 0.1 uF Cap with a 100 uF Cap causes problems with the motor control circuit.  I may need gravity.

--
 
 
 

--
Tom Gralewicz
Miller Electronics Recycling
(414) 380-1716
www.deadcomputers.com

[Jim Rawson]

I guess reverse polarity. However it seemed to be working, and actually blew while I was uploading a revised sketch...

[Brent Bublitz]

Just got my controller set up. I have to duct tape it all together.

> --
>
>
>

[Royce Pipkins]

Magic Smoke Exhaust: A potential propulsion scheme? :P

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Tom Gralewicz <m...@ieee.org> wrote:

--
 
 
 

--
The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
B. F. Skinner

[Shane]

...But where are you going to get that many crushed pixies? Does
Sparkfun sell them now?

On Sep 28, 10:05 am, Royce Pipkins <royce.pipk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Magic Smoke Exhaust: A potential propulsion scheme? :P
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Tom Gralewicz <m...@ieee.org> wrote:
> > 2 things that cause the magic smoke to come out of capacitors:
>
> > Reversed polarity
> > Too much voltage
>

[Brent Bublitz]

The American pixie manufacturing has been decimated by cheap import
pixies from overseas.

> --
>
>
>

[Jim Rawson]

This just gets better and better. I'm glad I had a few 328s laying around!

[the_digital_dentist]

One more: too much charge/discharge current happening too quickly.

[Tom Gralewicz]

Yea, but that usually takes some time to build up the heat, its what happens when you feed AC to a DC capacitor.  You could get some back EMF from the motor but you would have to switch it on and off a bunch of times.

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[Jim Rawson]

Thanks, I think I have it working, but I did blow out the 328 in the UNO, I forgot I had it connected to  the breadboard, and I connected 12 V. to see if the motor still worked, it does, but it fried the 328.

[Pete Prodoehl]

I've not been at the space since last week... is the track there?

I've emailed Buggs, but got no reply.

With the race set for Saturday night at Bucketworks I'm just a little concerned at this point, and I'm wondering if anyone knows of another track we could use, as a backup plan at least.


Pete

[Jason Hilleshiem]

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/tag/3266074555.html  should we all chip in?

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[David Buggs]

I just got back into town last night.  As soon as the rain stops I'll deliver the track to the space.

Buggs

On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 12:43 PM, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Jason Hilleshiem]

Buggs to the rescue

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[Pete Prodoehl]

Hooray! Thanks Buggs...

Will you be at BarCamp to help run the race?

Or does anyone else know how to run a race?

And... is the track easy to set up?


Pete

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[Kevin Crowley]

Lift gate, first one down wins.

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[Pete Prodoehl]

Is this you volunteering to run it?

Is there no keeping track of cars, or choosing which 3 race, and a bracket or something?

Will you be compiling info on each car and recording times?

I think there is an electronic scoring system, do you know how to operate it?

I think it's just a little bit more complex than "Lift gate, first one down wins."


Pete

--
 
 
 

[Jerry [HM]]

When I brought my kid to his cub scout ‘derby’ races..  they had a multi-lane track..

 

With LED ‘score board’..  and had times right there.. even a print out after ever ‘heat’

 

(you guys better bring your “A” game for this track!)  lol

--
 
 
 

[Have Blue]

And will the event referees be union organized, or replacements?

--
 
 
 

[David Buggs]

Having just returned from a trip I do need to spend some time with the wifey this weekend.  My son is also planning to be home from college.  

What time is the race?  I can run the race if it is at a specific time but if it will run all day or all night that would be a problem for me.  I can setup the track and show anyone the electronics (without the PC attached it still displays the times for each car).

Buggs

When using a PC it takes time to enter information on each car and the driver and then create the heats based upon the number of cars and the type of race chosen (single or double elimination, etc)

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[Vishal Rana]

Since i never got a chance to finish my car, I will be happy to run the race if you aren't available for very long.

Vishal

--
 
 
 

[Pete Prodoehl]

Thanks Buggs!

I put it on the schedule Saturday for 7pm to 9pm. If you can show someone (perhaps Vishal and anyone else) how it works, we can probably handle it enough to fake it. :)

Also, if anyone else has spare parts for cars, or even things like scrap pink foam, small bits of scrap wood, etc. so people can build cars, that would be awesome.

I'll be at the space Friday to prep things as well...

Pete

[Shane]

I'll be in tomorrow, If I'm not too busy cutting my new line of boxes
and wall-hangings (or even if I am), I can cut some extra wheels if
need be...I need outer diameter and axle diameter though.

And I might have to make the wheels look "cool"....:D

On Oct 3, 6:41 pm, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Buggs!
>
> I put it on the schedule Saturday for 7pm to 9pm. If you can show someone
> (perhaps Vishal and anyone else) how it works, we can probably handle it
> enough to fake it. :)
>
> Also, if anyone else has spare parts for cars, or even things like scrap
> pink foam, small bits of scrap wood, etc. so people can build cars, that
> would be awesome.
>
> I'll be at the space Friday to prep things as well...
>
> Pete
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, October 3, 2012 4:22:29 PM UTC-5, David Buggs wrote:
>
> > Having just returned from a trip I do need to spend some time with the
> > wifey this weekend.  My son is also planning to be home from college.
>
> > What time is the race?  I can run the race if it is at a specific time but
> > if it will run all day or all night that would be a problem for me.  I can
> > setup the track and show anyone the electronics (without the PC attached it
> > still displays the times for each car).
>
> > Buggs
>
> > When using a PC it takes time to enter information on each car and the
> > driver and then create the heats based upon the number of cars and the type
> > of race chosen (single or double elimination, etc)
>

> > On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 3:52 PM, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com<javascript:>

> > > wrote:
>
> >> Is this you volunteering to run it?
>
> >> Is there no keeping track of cars, or choosing which 3 race, and a
> >> bracket or something?
>
> >> Will you be compiling info on each car and recording times?
>
> >> I think there is an electronic scoring system, do you know how to operate
> >> it?
>
> >> I think it's just a little bit more complex than "Lift gate, first one
> >> down wins."
>
> >> Pete
>
> >> On 10/3/12 2:56 PM, Kevin Crowley wrote:
>
> >> Lift gate, first one down wins.
>

> >> On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 1:16 PM, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com<javascript:>

> >> > wrote:
>
> >>> Hooray! Thanks Buggs...
>
> >>> Will you be at BarCamp to help run the race?
>
> >>> Or does anyone else know how to run a race?
>
> >>> And... is the track easy to set up?
>
> >>> Pete
>
> >>> On 10/3/12 12:46 PM, David Buggs wrote:
>
> >>> I just got back into town last night.  As soon as the rain stops I'll
> >>> deliver the track to the space.
>
> >>> Buggs
>

> >>>  On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 12:43 PM, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com<javascript:>

[Kevin Crowley]

I would love to run it but it looks as if I will be working at the Bradley center for an event on Saturday.

--

[Shane]

I'm proxy-ing for Kevin...I suppose that I could proxy for you, too,
if you have a car ready....

[Kevin Crowley]

I might be able to get it done between shifts on friday.  will have to swing by and get some wheels thursday

--

[Shane]

By all means. All I really have to do is put your car on the track
and stand there.... (unless you need me to pilot it, which isn't as
much of an issue as you'd think.)

I'll be there Thursday, so talk to me then....

[David Buggs]

I delivered the track to the space tonight before the open build time.  It was mentioned that there may be a misunderstanding of the dimensions of the track and thus what people may have built their cars based upon.

The track is an official derby track purchased 10 - 12 years ago.  There are variations from manufacturer to manufacturer and the newer aluminum tracks are a bit different than those made of plywood like mine.

We discussed ripping a piece of plywood and another for guide strips to make a track that fit the dimensions communicated to the group.  I was told to watch the group postings to see if that needed to be done.  So far I see nothing.

Buggs

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[Jim Rawson]

The track looks awesome!  The raised strip between the wheels is 1.65" not the 1.5" we may have anticipated. Please adjust your "Track" accordingly.  

[Jim Rawson]

To be clear, the car builders should adjust the distance between their wheels.

[Brent Bublitz]

Craaaaaaaapppppppp....

On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 6:48 AM, Jim Rawson <taxi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> To be clear, the car builders should adjust the distance between their
> wheels.
>

> --
>
>
>

[Brent Bublitz]

Actually, I think that will work for me. Does anyone know the height
of the guide strip? Also, did we have a definitive time/date for the
race?

[Jim Rawson]

The height is .25".  Race is around 7:00 PM Saturday at Bucketworks

[Have Blue]

Craaaap indeed. I'm going to have to redesign my axle and wheel
mounting. Fortunately my body still has enough clearance.

[Pete Prodoehl]

Thanks Buggs!

Will you be at BarCamp Saturday night to help us get it set up and maybe run the race?

Can I get a reply from any other members who are willing to help run this thing?

Also, if someone can get the track to Bucketworks tomorrow that would be awesome... and if not, I'll just head to the space during BarCamp to pick it up...

Pete

[Vishal Rana]

I am still willing to help run it

Vishal

---

From: Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com>

Sender: milwaukee...@googlegroups.com

Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 12:22:11 -0700 (PDT)

To: <milwaukee...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: milwaukee...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [MakerSpace] Re: Nerdy Derby Track

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[David Buggs]

 I plan on pickup up the track from the space and taking it to Bucketworks to setup at about 5:00 pm tomorrow (Sat).

I plan on being there but will take any help I can get setting up the track & electronics, running the event, and then tearing things down again.  

Or I can leave it up and letting others take it down at the end of the event, that way people can continue to use it all night and the next day (Sun).  I could then stop by bucketworks or the makerspace to pick it up at some later date.

David N. Buggs

--
 
 
 

[Pete Prodoehl]

Buggs, that would be awesome.

If we can keep it there Sunday, we'll do a race for KidsCamp as well.

I'll do my best to help run things, and Vishal has volunteered as well.

Pete