2018 Game: Current Events

Check out the 2018 game teaser below from BEST, Inc. to get a taste of what this year's game is about.

Tasks

The robot must be able to:
  • Travel safely along the "current," which is represented by a wooden beam that rocks unsteadily back and forth.
  • Collect and deliver ocean garbage to the field engineer while allowing the field scientist to collect sea turtles and rubber ducks.
  • Mount filament tubes and reef boxes on the artificial reef structure.

Restrictions

GEARS, Inc. has to take several restrictions into consideration during the design and construction of the robot:
  • The robot must be built using only the materials provided.
  • The robot must be able to fit into a 24" x 24" x 24" cube in the starting position and be no more than 8" above the current.
  • The robot must weigh less than 24 pounds.

Game Pieces

1 liter water bottle
Serves as ocean garbage, worth 10 points
16 ounce water bottle
Serves as ocean garbage, worth 10 points
Cans
Serves as ocean garbage, worth 10 points
Filament Tube
The Field Engineer can use these to build filament tubes, containing 8 collected golf balls, which the robot can mount on the artificial reef structure, worth 100 points
Sea Turtle
Worth 10 points (Garbage in rescued sea turtles doubles the point value of the same type of trash collected in that round) (See rules for more details)
8 ounce water bottle
Serves as ocean garbage, worth 10 points
Reef Box
The Field Engineer can use these to build reef blocks which the robot can mount on the artificial reef structure, worth 25 points in Field Engineer's Operational Area and 100 points on Reef Structure
Golf Balls
Serves as microplastics, worth 5 points
Rubber Ducky
Worth 10 points (Current Flow Analysis is worth 150 points) (See rules for more details)

Game Animation

The video below gives a brief explanation of the basic rules and concepts of the game:

The Seriousness of Pollution

Pollution really is a problem. If it's not dealt with, it will only grow more dangerous. Fortunately, missions to clean up polluted spots like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are being planned and launched. To learn more, check out this video:
​Video Source:  The Ocean Cleanup (https://www.theoceancleanup.com/)

Detailed Rules

In order to ensure that all company members understood the requirements of the game, GEARS members were required to read the 2018 game rules. Click below to access the links for this year's game rules:
BEST 2018 Game Rules
Updated 11/11/18 by ENL