10th November 2020
Virtual Car Team Week 29: After a 4 week break, it was back onto Zoom for CAUC!
Needless to say, when we all logged on Zoom for the first time back in March, never in a million years did we think we'd still be hosting CAUC team nights online 8 months later! Facing Lockdown 2.0 and the continuation of online CAUC, we've spent the last few weeks planning different activities to refresh the calls whilst simultaneously attempting to keep the momentum and excitement of engineering going!
Once everyone had logged on, it was time to announce the first activity of Virtual CAUC 2.0....A team design challenge!
Using the breakout room feature on Zoom, we split the team up into two; with one room forming 'Team Dylan' and the other 'Team Basil'. Their challenge? To design a multifunctional race helmet. With 40 minutes on the clock, the only requirement was that it had to be designed on Zoom's whiteboard.
Without further ado, both team's got straight to work! Collaborating each of their ideas to create one super helmet!
Needless to say, the challenge was taken extremely seriously and began to get very competitive. Cerys became so engrossed in the challenge that she had an epiphany; announcing to the team "I'm not going to become an F1 mechanic anymore, think I'll become a helmet designer."
Having fully designed the helmet, both teams began to focus on their presentation to the judges (aka Mr G, Richard, Jane and Jeff who were currently sat in a separate break out room having a little chin wag!!
Team Basil went as far as creating a brand name ('The Basil Raptors') and designed a promotional opening page for the presentation. Although they were slightly disappointed when Becksy thought the helmet looked rather cute! To which Cate immediately exclaimed ''Nooo it's meant to look scary'' and preceded to re-draw the eyebrows in an attempt to make it look more intimidating for the opposition.
Time up, designs submitted, it was on to the presentations.
First up, Team Dylan!
They each took it in turns to explain the different features; such as a google glass interactive screen on the visor with speed-o-meter and lap times. In addition, they also had windshield wipers, a screen that gives live updates from the pit lane including pit board notifications and a feature that starts vibrating if you miss the pit board!!!
Sophie's task was to explain the features that didn't make the cut and why. Such as a Snack Box, which was voted out due to the potential possibility of chocking.
Once questions from the Judges had finished, it was time for the Basil Raptors to step up; who kick started their presentation with a warning for the judges to prepare to have their socks blown off!!
As I am sure you can guess from the name, Team Basil decided to design the helmet like a dinosaur. Like Team Dylan, they too had a google glass style visor that acts like a screen providing a map of the track and any incidents. In addition, the visor is anti-fog and is dark in colour like sunglasses. The helmet can detect your heart rate, suggests the optimum line around the track and has a self adjusting chin strap.
During Team Basil's Q&A session from the judges, much to our amusement, Erin from Team Dylan began to help them out by sharing how useful their features would be. Laughing that she shouldn't really be helping her opponents to win, we decided Erin should be awarded the 'Spirit of Greenpower'.
With nothing more to be done, it was over to the judges to head back into another break out room and decide the winner. We waited, and waited....and waited for them to come back, trying to decide if the length of time taken was due to them struggling to come to a decision or whether they simply didn't know how to get out of the break out room! (.....We soon found out it was the latter!!!!!)
Mr G, Richard, Jane and Jeff came up with 4 different judging criteria's and talked us through the results which were as follows:
1. Technical Presentation Skills -- Team Dylan, due to each team member contributing to the presentation.
2. Artistic Presentation -- Team Basil, for their eye catching graphics.
3. Technical Ability -- Team Dylan, as they gave more detail on the features of the helmet.
4. Race Ability eg How Useful is the product -- Team Basil, as the helmet provided more information to the driver.
This meant that it was a draw!!!
Which as you can imagine did not go down very well! Being an extremely competitive team, we all agreed with Karoot that we'd rather lose than there be no winner!!!! So, to settle this competition once and for all, please can you head over to our social media pages (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) and let us know who you think the winner should be!
So that brings us to the end of another entertaining evening on Zoom. Wonder whether we'll see any of these ideas featuring on a helmet in the next few years?!
Before we go, we are extremely excited to announce that we have been selected as one of the local causes for this years Co-Op Community Funds. This means that over the next year, for every own branded goods/services purchased by a member, Co-op donates a sum to local causes on your behalf. Therefore, if you are reading this and live locally to the CW11 area, we would greatly appreciate you choosing us as your local cause and inspiring the next generation of talented engineers.
Thank you! :D
