The olympics

This consists in constructing a bridge as fast as possible with a time limit of 15 minutes.

• OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION OF TEST

The test consists in building the Leonardo da Vinci arch with wooden strips as fast as possible and raising it above one of the members of the group.

• SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TECHNOLOGY

The Da Vinci bridge is an ingenious assembly of wooden sticks which are fitted together to create a structure which covers a far greater distance than the size of the strips it is made up of. Due to this device, the load is conveyed from one to another until the ground is reached, but no adhesive resource is needed. It is very unstable on the sides, but it is safe if it is built carefully.

• MATERIAL AVAILABLE

The material available for carrying out the task during the Olympics is:

- 10 units of 2400x70x70 mm wooden strips

- 5 units of 1000x70x70 mm wooden strips

• RULES

Once the clock starts ticking, each team must place all strips in two lines to cover the distance shown on the ground (minimum 6 metres). At no point can the structure surpass a height of 1.5 metres. Once finished, one of the members of the group shall climb up onto the structure and stay there for at least 5 seconds without the bridge collapsing. The time taken to complete this task shall be recorded and students have 15 minutes to complete it. In the event the bridge collapses, the team can try again as many times as possible providing they stay within the 15-minute deadline.

Any breach of the rules will mean the team is immediately disqualified from that test, and shall obtain a result of 20 minutes.

• SCORING

The judge shall give a score according to the position the team has in relation to the other ones. To do so, the judge shall rank all teams from the least to most time and give the highest score to the one who has completed the task in the least time. In the event of a draw, the teams that have completed the task in the same time shall have the same score.

This consists in building a dam with loose materials which slow down the flow of water, making seepage time as long as possible. There will be a 5-minute time limit to build it.

• OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION OF TEST

The objective of this test consists in building a dyke-dam transversally in the centre of a 30L box. This dyke must be capable of containing an amount of water that is at least 10cm deep for as long as possible.

• SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TECHNOLOGY

The dyke is generally granular material which can act differently according to the main purpose it has. In our case, the dyke must act as a gravity dam which can retain the water at the back.

The general structure of a dyke is made up of a central core of light, small material. One or various layers of larger material, known as filter layers prevent the material in the inner area from being carried away by the water. There is also an outer layer of protection where the heaviest and largest material is located whose exact purpose is to protect the lower elements from the waves attacking and currents of water.



 

• NECESSARY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

The equipment for building the dyke is:

- 30l transparent box

- 1 kg of claylike material

- 5 kg of granular material whose diameter is between 5-15 mm

- 5 kg of granular material whose diameter is between 15-30 mm

• TEST PROCESS

Each team shall have a 5-minute time limit to make the dyke. Afterwards, from one of the sides the judge shall pour enough water to reach the level marked on the drawer. Once the height is reached the time shall be counted to when the water seepage in the dyke reaches the mark on the other side of the box.

• RULES

It is expressly forbidden to use any material or element other than those available for the task, nor may anyone outside the team be used.

Any breach of the rules will mean the team is immediately disqualified from that test, and shall obtain a result of zero.

• SCORING

The judge shall give a score according to the position the team has in relation to the other ones. To do so, the judge shall rank all teams from the highest to lowest time and give the highest score to the one who has the highest time. In the event of a draw, the teams that have completed the task in the same time shall have the same score.

This consists in assembling the highest number of large size puzzles with pictures of engineering works with a 15-minute time limit.

• OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION OF TEST

The test consists in making 6 puzzles with pictures of civil engineering in the least time possible.

• SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TECHNOLOGY

Spatial vision is a fundamental skill for all engineers both regarding their academic training and in carrying out their work. For this reason, in this task students must carry out engineering works from pieces located on cubes. Moreover, students must be able to recognise and identify emblematic works in civil engineering.

• NECESSARY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

To construct each of the images from the 6 works, the team shall have a total of 12 expanded polystyrene cubes whose dimensions are around 33cm. Each side of the cube shall have a 12th part of the complete image. Also, they shall have the correct image in AO format to guide them when carrying out the task.

• TEST PROCESS

Once they have correctly completed the image of a work, a photo must be taken of the full team with it before going on to the next one, and once the judge has given them permission to do so. From the start of the task the time taken to complete each image shall be recorded.

• RULES

Any breach of the rules will mean the team is immediately disqualified from that test, and shall obtain a result which shall be made up of the maximum time for the task plus 5 minutes. That is 20 minutes.

• SCORING

The judge shall give a score according to the position the team has in relation to the other ones. To do so, the judge shall rank all teams according to the amount of puzzles made and the time required to reach that number. Once they are ordered from first to last, the top score shall be given to that which has completed most puzzles. In the event of a draw, the teams that have completed the same number of puzzles in the same time shall have the same score.

This consists in transporting the maximum number of containers as fast as possible with a time limit of 15 minutes.

• OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION OF TEST

The test consists in organising and distributing goods among 5 cities using a remote control lorry as the means of transport. Each team made up of 5 members shall designate a lorry driver from the team and each member shall go to one of the cities to load and unload the lorry when it arrives there. Each city shall initially have a certain number of goods containers which shall be indicated on the same day of the test. The containers shall be colour coded according to their destinations: white for city 1, blue for city 2, green for city 3, red for city 4 and black for city 5. The objective of the test consists in distributing the goods with the lorry in such a way that all containers finish at their corresponding destination (according to their colour) as efficiently as possible. In these circumstances and conditions efficiency shall be measures in terms of the time used (which in practice shall be equivalent to the distance covered). The routes to the cities and their layout may vary for each group and there may be obstacles along the way.


• SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TECHNOLOGY

In the game the students manage one of the most important land transport systems (lorries) and a problem is set which seems simple, but, in fact, is highly complex if it is to be made as efficient as possible. Although this test was planned with a lorry, the problem for distributing goods can be applied to any means of transport. Large logistics companies we all know such as Amazon, Ebay, Zara, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Seur, MRW, etc. and other less well known ones, albeit important ones such as Maersk, face these challenges every day.

In this test the students practice their team work skills to plan and define action strategies and take decisions. These strategies and decisions imply, whether consciously or intuitively, applying their mathematical knowledge to real life.

• NECESSARY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

To carry out the task they need a remote control lorry for loading and unloading goods containers and a set of colour containers as indicated in point 1. They will have at least 10 containers in each colour to make many different initial configurations and so the test is at an appropriate difficulty level. The city boundaries shall be set with a square on the ground highlighted with sticky tape and the colour assigned to each one will be clearly identified.

• TEST PROCESS

Each member of the team shall be placed in one of the cities according to what is deemed pertinent. The lorry will initially be empty and shall set off from city 1. The team must carry all the goods to the destination with the remote controlled lorry as fast as possible (which means at the lowest possible cost). The team must come up with an action plan to organise distributing the goods: loading and unloading at each city and the route the lorry shall take.

The judge will record the total time taken to distribute the goods.

• RULES

The lorry can transport up to 2 containers at the same time. The member of the team allocated to each city will be in charge of loading and unloading which can only take place within the square set for each city. Each member must remain in the square corresponding to their city throughout the test (15 minutes) and can only leave in the event the lorry has an accident or breaks down.

Anyone outside the team is expressly forbidden to touch the controls for the lorry, the lorry itself or the goods containers. In the event of a breakdown or exceptional situation the member of the group must address the judge for the test. Likewise, the members of the group are expressly forbidden to receive instructions about strategy, planning etc. while the test is underway. If any of the rules are breached, the team shall be penalised with an additional 5 minutes for the test, that is, 20 minutes.

• SCORING

The judge shall give a score according to the position the team has in relation to the other ones. To do so, the teams shall be ordered from the longest to shortest time used to distribute the goods. The highest score shall be given to the team which carries out the task in the shortest time. If the teams do not manage to finish the test in the 15-minute deadline, then the number of containers correctly distributed shall be counted in order to rank them and give each team their corresponding score.

This consists in surpassing a maximum number of challenges in a building videogame within 15 minutes.

• OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION OF TEST

The test consists in passing as many levels as possible within 15 minutes.

• SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TECHNOLOGY

In the game the students may become acquainted with some of the machines most frequently used in civil engineering and they use their skills to organise themselves into teams and arrange tasks.

• NECESSARY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

To carry out the test a computer and videogames console or tablet (which each site for the tests will have at their disposal) is required and a licence for games such as Bridge Constructor, Bridge Builder or a similar one.

• TEST PROCESS

The team must pass as many levels as possible in 15 minutes and the team members may take turns in the event a level is not passed. The referee shall record the time taken to pass each level.

• RULES

It is expressly forbidden for anybody outside the team to touch the videogames controls while the task is underway.

• SCORING

The judge shall give a score according to the position the team has in relation to the other ones. To do so, the judge shall rank all the teams according to the levels passed and the time taken to reach their top level. Once they are ranked from first to last the top score shall be given to that which has passed most levels in the least time. In the event of a draw, the teams that have passed the same number of levels in the same time shall have the same score.

In each test, the teams shall be ranked from the least to most successful (least time in test 1 and 2, greatest time in test 3, greatest number of puzzles, containers and levels in tests 4,5 and 6 respectively) and points shall be accumulated. In the event of a draw, the teams that have completed the task in the same time shall have the same score.

The winning team shall be that which obtains the top score when all teams have finished the tests, both at the Local and National Stages.