75 Steps (Can We Make It?)
75 Steps can sound easy but it is far from it. Each step is defined as the transfer of energy from one element from another and unfortuantely domino chaines do not count. Our large frame is helpful organizationally wise but it can also be limiting due to a set area for each step. It is hard to move a step so thought needs to be put into where each step goes before it is built. Because each element needs to meet our standard of "robust" and work ten times in a row to meet satisfactory conditions it makes it even harder to move a complicated step from one section of the machine to another.
As a team we have been working on building and testing sections of the project and only beginning to connect them. While our visions for how we want our element to be may be massive we have to constrain ourselves with size, time, and other peoples' elements. We also need to increase the rate of building to create more elements and thus more steps.
Another issue with building is building upwards. Because of the incredibly helpful force of gravity it is incredibly easy to simply build downwards without attempting to affect the upper levels of the machine or building upwards. Gravity is a wonderful thing because it makes things like dominioes fall and things like marbles roll down ramps. However gravity can be quite annoying when trying to build upwards.
While 75 steps may sound like a daunting task, with luck, it will be possible to accomplish much of it over the next week because of a break from school. As long as our team continues to concentrate upon the task at hand it should be possible to complete 75 steps. If we do not remain on task however we could easily end up not meeting our goal.