As with any good competition, there should be rules to make sure each team doing the same thing. While the rules were our biggest obstacle in hindsight, I can begrudgingly see the need, as they tested our ability to design and plan with limitations, thus making the whole challenge a little harder. In the end, we made some serious rules outlining the entire challenge.
The Challenge:
Design and construct a bridge that will support the greatest weight possible in the most efficient way, using the provided materials and adhering to the rules.
Rules:
- Each bridge will only be made up of the following materials: Toothpicks, Skewers, Straws, and Glue.
- The bridge must be free standing in design. It cannot be attached to the surface in any way, and is only allowed to rest between the edges of the gap.
- The bridge must cover a gap of at least 40cm.
- The bridge must have a width of at least 5cm to 10cm.
- No lamination is allowed. Lamination is defined as five or more of any type of materials layered in a parallel direction and only separated by glue.
- A budget will be in place, where each unit of material is assigned a cost. Only materials used in the final design will add to this cost. When "buying" a material, the entire unit is bought. Glue is free.
- The Budget will be limited to: $2500
