JPL Invention Challenge - Sticky Wicket

Thursday, December 1, 2022

I love the team Ocean's 1011/XI/B. Throughout the entire process, Ocean's 1011/XI/B was energetic, motivated, and cooperative. We worked so hard to make our device the best it could possibly be - and it shows. For one, our device is beautiful. The wood is cleanly cut, the hammer swings excellently, the paint-job (and added details) look absolutely brilliant. Two, the device works well. The mechanisms are pretty simple, but it's reliable in getting the job done efficiently and consistently.

[Our device - beautiful]

In the actual competition, there were definitely some cool devices (my favorite being Lucky Ducky). Some had butterflies, others were coded by computers, and a few were literal weapons (I'm looking at you Oakwood Secondary School). But these devices were all bark and no bite; many failed to get even one ball in.

[Other devices - also pretty cool]

Honestly, we did everything right. Hernandez was working the swivel, Lee was on dowel duty, Neumeyer was the setter, and I had the legendary task of holding the orange and green balls. The set up was perfect; we had practiced weeks in advance and achieved countless perfect-score trials. Our timing (best in the regional competition) was sub-30, meaning we had more than 30 seconds to spare. There was absolutely nothing stopping us from victory.

But regionals, gosh darn regionals. Automatically, rules were thrown out the window. PSI of 10? Nah, we're measuring diameter now. You can't set the ball before the timer starts? Nope, that's fine. Entry number painted on the device at least 3 inches high? Well, it's nice to have...

And Oakwood Secondary School. I'll admit, building literal rifles is pretty impressive, but a little birdie told me that the team didn't even build their devices themselves - so I'm not impressed.

[Oakwood Secondary School - ew]

As problems go, there wasn't much. Communication was a little iffy in the beginning (especially on getting the document complete), and we tended to goof off a bit, but I believe that added to our charm as a team.

For future teams that I'm on, my only hope is that we maintain the spirit of Ocean's 1011/XI/B and that everyone does their part.

"Future self, come up with something great for the capstone project. Make it something genuinely cool and helpful, and don't stop working until it accomplishes what it was set out to do." - Me to Future Me