For many years after the Phoenix incident, peace had reigned on the planet Vayu. Under the leadership and counsel of a series of Vayun Engineers, Vayu had firmly established itself as the leading agricultural center of the galaxy. In addition, Boshhome, the planetary capital, had become an educational center. Students came from throughout the galaxy to learn effectiveness and efficiency in their chosen professions. Their education was guided by the basic principle of the Vayun engineers; "A fully capable brain is a fully utilized brain."

Many students came to the University of Vayu, but only those who were able to take full advantage of the training available at U of V were graduated with full honors. These top students were highly sought after and almost all brought honor to Vayu and its original engineer, Bosh nef Story. Almost all, that is, because there was one graduate who used his talents for evil. His name was Jink pur Dilig and he sought absolute power, beginning with Vayu. This is the story of how his evil plans were thwarted.

Through diligent research and creative application, the Engineers of Vayu had been able to produce some quite remarkable eggs. These eggs contained a catalyst that was activated when the egg's shell was cracked open. The catalyst caused the eggs to cook automatically without any outside sources of heat. They went from the carton to the table in five seconds flat (six for hard boiled). Naturally, these eggs were in great demand, and became a major export of Vayu. Over the years, production of these eggs began to heavily influence planetary policy. Much time and effort were spent to ensure that the production of Vayu Eggs would remain uninterrupted. Jink pur Dilig knew that this would be the starting point of his rise to power. By controlling the production of the eggs, he would gain economic leverage against the rest of the planet.

His plan, which had not been seen in this part of the galaxy before, was based on an old scheme known as the "protection racket." Jink gathered a gang of thugs and thieves to do his dirty work. His thugs were sent out to offer "protection" to the egg producers. For a reasonable fee, Jink guaranteed that the eggs would be fetched by his organization and delivered safely to shipping sites for export to offworld markets. Those who did not pay the protection money were warned that "accidents are bound to happen!"

The egg producers dismissed the whole idea as laughable. After all, their ancestors had faced a much greater nemesis in the Phoenix and had won. Why should they pay any attention to a common thief like Jink?

Much to their chagrin, the egg producers soon found that Jink was not the common thief they had first supposed. The trucks that normally fetched the eggs were being detoured or hijacked. The few that managed to get through to the egg farms were destroyed when they tried to leave. Deliveries and sales of Vayu Eggs had ground to a halt!

A Planetary Council meeting was held, with Master Amanou ki Ba, Chief Engineer to Vayu, presiding. The council agreed that Jink pur Dilig must be stopped. There had to be a way to send the eggs to shipping points without interference from Jink and his gang. The Council discussed many different schemes for ridding the planet of this menace. After all ideas had been rejected as being unworkable, Master Amanou decided that the university students would have the freshest approach to the problem, since they had no preconceptions about the possible. Thus the following statement was issued at the University of Vayu.

Objective:

Design, build and test a mechanism capable of safely loading six eggs at random "pick-up" points and unloading them without breaking at a depot at the end of a specified track (see Figure 1), subject to the following restrictions and conditions:

Restrictions:

1. The mechanism may be constructed of any type of material.
2. The mechanism must be constructed using materials and off-the-shelf" items found in average suburban hardware stores and shopping malls. The use of any type or form of construction kit is not allowed.
3. All construction work must be done by the students.
4. The weight of the mechanism should not exceed 2 lbs.

Conditions:

1. The mechanism must be completely self contained and no form of remote control is allowed.
2. The mechanism will be required to traverse the track shown in Figure 1. While traversing the track, the mechanism is required to load one egg from each container placed on six randomly chosen pedestals (see Figure 1)
3. The size of the eggs to be used is GRADE AA Medium.
4. There will be no type of restriction on the size of the container except that it should fit on the given pedestal. It is the group's responsibility that the egg container does not topple over from the pedestal when the test run is being made.
5. No type of remote control device on the egg container is allowed.
6. A wire or rope running the length of the track will be provided. This will stimulate an overhead power supply cable.

Evaluation and Testing:

The track is shown on Figure 1. The track is made out of wood. A total of eight pedestals will be placed as shown. One egg container (supplied by the group) will be placed on each of the six randomly chosen pedestals. The choice of the pedestals for each group will be done by ballot, with a group member drawing six numbers from a set of eight numbers. One egg will be placed in each egg container.

The mechanism will be placed behind the starting line at Point A (see Figure 1). The time clock will be started as soon as the nose of the mechanism crosses the starting line it will be
stopped when the nose of the mechanism crosses the finishing line at Point B. This time will be used in the calculation of the points for the test run.

While traversing the track, the mechanism will be required to safely load eggs from the "pick-up" containers placed as previously mentioned. As soon as the mechanism has crossed the finish line, it will have 15 seconds to unload the eggs without breakage on the designated unloading area of the track. Eggs unloaded after the 15 seconds time limit will be considered as "failures".

Each mechanism shall be required to make two runs on the track. The track will be traversed from the opposite direction for the second test run, i.e. the start and finish line for the
first test run will be the finish and start lines for the second test run, respectively. Students will be allowed 2 minutes to set up their mechanism prior to each test run. The mechanism must be removed from the track within 1 minute. Penalties will be levied if the set up and removal times are exceeded. It will be the group's responsibility to clean any mess created during the
test runs. The time taken by the mechanism to travel from start to finish will be measured. The weight of the mechanism will be measured before making the runs. The points for each run will be calculated using the following formula:

Time * Weight

Original Points (OP) = 100 - ------------------------- * 100

(30 Sec) * (32 oz.)

It is assumed that the maximum time taken to travel is 30 seconds.

The penalties for each run will be levied as follows:

Criterion Penalty:

Failure to load and carry Loss of n1/12 * OP eggs to the depot

Failure to unload eggs in Loss of n2/12 * OP the depot

Exceeding the set up and Loss of 0.05/60 * removal times for every second exceeded

The sum of the points from the two test runs after deductions due to penalties will be the group points. The group with the most points will be judged as the winners of the competition.

Acknowledgements:

The competition was conceived by R.H. Allen, H. Guven, A. Jivan, F. Mistree and J. Shupe. The story was conceived and written by Jon Shupe. The specifications were developed by Azim Jivan and the artwork was done by Praeit Ittimakin. Input from Warren Smith in
the formulation of the specifications and drawing of the test track figure by Vincent Lam is also acknowledged.