Minim
MINIM: a tiny object. So-called because I was aiming for minimum mass. Without the solar panel, this weighs only 10.5 grams -- barely the mass of a large paperclip!
Looking down, you can see the front axle and motor mount with the two shorting wires extended out the back.
Side view shows the shape of the chassis. It was too thin, easy to accidently bend it, so that it did not run straight. This resulted in its running into a wall during competition.
Front view--you can see front axle clearly here. I had cut a little rubber roller in half to make the two front wheels. They are held on by insulation off a wire and some heat-shrink
You can also see the kink in the chassis. I would straighten it out, get it running straight, then accidently bend it again.
Too much of a good thing, I guess.
The six inch mast was originally made of copper wire, but was replaced with an aluminum angle cut very thin.
The roller is a bit top-heavy and tends to wobble as it rolls, but it doesn't fall over.
As far as I can recall, the SE is a standard 1381 miller type that pops twice--once at the start line and again under the second lamp.
A detail of the solar panel. The tiny wafer adds .5V without increasing the area. Just an experiment, this arrangement was not used in competition.
Minim lives in a dust-free case that also prevents it from heading south for the winter.
Second place at WCRG in 2003, but not as impressive as it sounds. I think there were only two entries! And Scotty Dogma's whiz-bot beat Minim handily.
