Mia - Make her go Faster and Farther

VEX IQ Competition Discussion
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I run little side competitions here as something for roboteers to do once their season ends. They have generated the famous Octo-claw. And we’ve even done lunar Lander builds.

Now since over 1/2 of us are out of the race, I’d like to try this.

With support of @DanMantz I use these Mia kits for my Women in STEM days.

(You can buy your own for about $10 and some more for shipping)

One of the things that I do is challenge the women building Mia to make her go faster and farther (We have “Most Mia” awards to hand out)

I build a 2x30 track and the Mia that goes farthest is the winner. 30’ on a rubber band is pretty cool.

It’s a quick mind issue, most of them go for more and bigger rubber bands. I do have other parts (gears, arms, etc).

So given the constraints of:

  • VEXIQ components
  • No electronics
  • You need to build your Mia, and then take it apart and add your upgrades. You have 58 minutes, because the last two is your Mia distance run.
    – Be aware of your time, some of you are ninja builders ( and I’m not looking at @Noah here) so cut these elementary school builders some slack.
  • Post your best pictures. I’ll build the top two (fan favorite) robots and match them up at my next Women in STEM event on 29 April.

Winner gets $100 in VEX parts (and yes, I’ll cough up the $30 in shipping)

Your deadline is 19 April to make sure I can order your parts.

3-2-1 build!

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I recently got an new request to build 100 Mia kits. That date is 4/11, so I need to get ideas in by noon 5 April 2023 if I’ll have a chance at parts.

Same contest, same awards, just moving the deadline up to meet this new class.

Thanks!

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Just a post to say the contest is officially closed.

Thanks!

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Event went well, lots of Mia’s made the track. It was a pretty impressive day. It’s a tough kit to build on your first day out.

We built and then did testing. I made it clear that distance was better.

Turns out that less is more. In removing Mia’s flailing arms and the associate linkages, about a 25% increase in distance was created. Not surprised, but a little depressed as the next round was weigh stripping, so the eyes and the signature Mia smile were soon a memory. At her core, a streamlined Mia can go 22’. We ran out of time to fix the tail wheel tracing, but I think it will just become a single post dragging along. Teams were looking at longer tails to keep Mia centered in the track. I expect that without the drag, but with the longer tail she will break 30’.

Thanks for the ideas.

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