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Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 8:16 pm
by xanthrum
Ok everyone -- as usual I have been working hard... but we have put something together that is a once in a lifetime event - we are constructing and building the World Record Longest Pinewood Derby Track - it is going to be 2x longer than the Eiffel Tower - 2000 feet. All constructed and run on a 2 lane Best Track

-- When - October 15th, 2016
-- Where - Mid America Council Jubilee @ Mahoney State Park
-- The official record setting run is scheduled right now to be at 10am - cars will run all day until it is dark 7pm

Mid America Pinewood Derby - is the catalyst and we have been working with Best Track, Many engineers, and the logistics to say the least are intense. Creating a track at a State Park outside at the Mid America Council's Jubilee where 10,000+ are in attendance has been challenging. It is going to be a 2 lane best track set on a continual 2% slope - it is going to be timed - cars should get going VERY FAST. We have contracted with Guinness Book of World Records to come officiate (this is a giant undertaking and had big time costs) - and there are strict rules in how we can use the logo but 2 weeks prior to the record setting attempt everything will be branded with Guinness Book of World Records - 2 cars will initially race down the 2 lane track to "officially set the record" it will be covered with drones - we are going to be broadcasting elements of it live on the Mid America Pinewood Derby video channels. We will have a timing system and keep a live standings report of who has the fastest car(s) down the 2000 foot track. I am sure that there will be lots of press of all kinds.

The rules are very simple - 5 oz car, not to exceed 7'' long, not to exceed 2 3/4'' wide, not to exceed 6 1/2'' tall. Wheels must be no less than 7.5mm wide, all marking must remain intact inside and out including all decorative fluting. Axles any , lubrication any - Car must have 4 wheels - directly across from each other. wide open rules.

We are not doing Proxy racing simply due to the huge amount of work that is going to be going into setting up the track and the tear down of the track. However there are LOTS of local guys ... that many of you know here in Omaha - that you can make arrangements with to run a car or cars for you. Proxy racing is just out of the question for me. It isn't often that you have the chance to build and race a car down a 2000 foot track and be part of setting the World Record - or better yet be the Fastest car down the World Record Track

We have all kinds of sponsorship opportunities available if you have any interest in that please get in touch directly with me

The official websites for the event are:

- www.mac-bsa.org/macjubilee
- www.facebook.com/BSAMACJubilee


Truly

Greg Dawes

midamericaderby@yahoo.com

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 9:55 am
by gpraceman
This is a very cool project. :bigups: You never take on simple tasks, do you?

I don't foresee an issue with using GPRM for this event, but if during testing you see an issue, let me know. I'd like to see the timing part of this event go off without a hitch.

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 1:20 am
by Stan Pope
What about the voltage drop on the wire from start gate to finish line? Might also be waveform distortion. 2000 ft of wire could be an issue. Or has this been tested and proven okay... no "repeaters" required along the pathway?

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 8:26 pm
by Indy
Stan Pope wrote:What about the voltage drop on the wire from start gate to finish line? Might also be waveform distortion. 2000 ft of wire could be an issue. Or has this been tested and proven okay... no "repeaters" required along the pathway?
The voltage drop isn't an issue. 2000' feet of wire has a resistance of 100 or so ohms and the typical pull-up resistor is 10 to 20kohms or higher. The resulting voltage drop on the wire is around 50mV at worst.

What is a problem as you mentioned is the waveform distortion - voltage spikes caused by the inductance of the wire. They can be addressed by a combination of a low pass filter, clipping diodes and a current limiting resistor.

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:31 am
by Stan Pope
Indy wrote:What is a problem as you mentioned is the waveform distortion - voltage spikes caused by the inductance of the wire. They can be addressed by a combination of a low pass filter, clipping diodes and a current limiting resistor.
Okay! Thanks for your expertise! I know just enough about it to be dangerous! :)

Do you know if the risk has been checked out? Sounds like it would take more than a few minutes to rectify if not discovered until after the first test run on race day!

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:53 pm
by Indy
Stan Pope wrote:Do you know if the risk has been checked out? Sounds like it would take more than a few minutes to rectify if not discovered until after the first test run on race day!
Hi Stan - sorry for the delayed response. Greg had asked me to build a customized version of my Arduino based timer to use on their record setting track so it has been a busy month getting the timer built and tested.

I did research and test the issues introduced by the 1800 feet of wire to the start gate - at one point I had 1000 feet of wire strung through my neighborhood. In the end I was able to add a simple filtering circuit that removed the spikes - in the next day or two I'll add some additional information and photos of the timer in my main timer thread.

The event was today and they officially broke the record. Here are a few pictures (first 3 are from Friday's testing - I didn't get many pictures today):

Not your typical drop section:
Image

View from the start gate down the track:
Image

VIew of the finish line with the timer:
Image

Official world record (they have the incorrect council on the certificate, will be fixed):
Image

I believe the final, official length was measured at 1819 feet. They had 3 chances to set the record (only one of the two cars had to finish), here were the results of the 3 tries (from my notes and memory):

#1:
--- (car 1 crashed)
--- (car 2 crashed into car 1)

#2: (record set)
1:16.7 (car 1)
--- (car 2 did not finish)

#3:
1:38.5 (car 2)
1:18.9 (car 1)

Afterwords they let all of the scouts (and siblings) launch their own cars down the track - unfortunately it turned out that a lot of them couldn't make it the full length of the track. They still had a blast and some even pushed their car down the full length. Since so many cars failed to finish they didn't time those runs.

Overall it was a great event with tons of scouts, leaders and families.

Re: Be part of History - in setting the World Record !!!

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2016 12:27 pm
by gpraceman
Congratulations to Greg Dawes​ and all involved in shattering the World Record. The new record is 1,819 ft 3.75 in. The old record was 713 ft 3 in.

I'm glad that we were able to help out with the timing system issue by referring Greg to David Gadberry and his custom Arduino timing system. I will also mention that our GrandPrix Race Manager software was used for the event. :mrgreen:

Zeebzob did a nice interview with Greg Dawes and Glenn Jewkes about the record. It's a good listen.

Podcast Episode 49

Here's also a news video on the event.


https://youtu.be/