bioLarzen
Demi-Minion
"I reject your avatars and substitute my own."
Posts: 86
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Post by bioLarzen on Dec 6, 2012 19:56:32 GMT
One other idea: set up two identical courses either at the same location or separate locations, just being sure that the terrain is the same. The runner runs a random course, the driver is given an earpiece that a spotter uses to relay the runner's actions. How exactly that would happen? bio
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Post by maxman on Dec 19, 2012 9:08:27 GMT
These bumpers could cause some problems. "These new bumpers were designed with pedestrians in mind. Just let 'em try to get away." "This same model also has a glass bottom, so when you hit a pedestrian, you can look down and see if he was a friend of yours."
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Post by OziRiS on Dec 28, 2012 23:28:41 GMT
There's a lot of talk about what would work visually for this on the show and I got an idea early on when reading through the thread. It's kinda hard for me to explain so bear with me...
The way I see it, there's two ways of approaching this. One is challenging the runner to get away from the car and the other is to challenge the driver to keep up with the runner. I think the latter is easier to test.
Here's what I propose:
Go to the huge airplane hangar the guys used for the paper folding test (or a similarly large, indoor venue) and set up a simulated urban environment. This could be easily done by just drawing out a main street with sidewalks and a series of side streets (I suggest anywhere from 3-5 on each side of the main street), making intersections. Then, set up "buildings" along the main street using large walls of plywood, just like a movie set but with less detail to cut back on time spent and make analogues for lampposts, trees and other things that would seriously damage or completely stop a car if hit. Make these out of some material that won't damage the car if it hits them (I suggest styrofoam or thin plastic piping), but is still enough to indicate that a hit has been made.
Since they'll be testing the driver's ability to follow a runner that makes sudden turns, as opposed to testing the runner's ability to get away from the car, there's really no reason to give the runner the ability to enter buildings or go up or down stairs and stuff like that. They only need the runner to be able to make a sudden, unpredictable turn up one of the side streets.
I'm thinking a system of rails suspended from the ceiling. One long one going down the length of the main street and then branches going down the side streets, curved at the angle that a runner would actually be able to make while turning at speed (should be tested by the crew prior to building). At the junctions between the main street rail and the side street rails there would be a remote controlled lane changing mechanism.
Each rail would be fitted with a motor at the far end of the track and a conveyor chain going down the length of the rail. These conveyor chains should then be able to pull a wheeled sled that's encased in the rail. There should be 3-5 inches before every junction where the chain on the main street rail releases the sled for about a second to allow the it to change lanes, picking up again right after the junction if the operator decides to pass it and choose a lane further down the track. This could be done quite easily, if the chain runs along the top inside of the rail, by simply leading the chain out and over the rail for a few inches and then back in a little after the junction. About an inch or two from the junction, down the side street rails, the corresponding conveyor chain would then grab the sled again, dragging it down the side street.
The idea is then to suspend Buster from the sled and let someone try to catch (hit) him with the car, trying to follow him as he suddenly goes down a side street. Someone else from the crew will control the sled system and decide when and where Buster will turn down one of the side streets. I believe this would create something that's visually gratifying to the viewers while testing the myth in a reasonable way, without putting anyone in danger.
It might be a tough build, but I believe the guys could make this work. All 5 of them may need to work together on this one though.
My two biggest concerns with this would be finding 7 to 11 affordable motors (1 for the main street conveyor and 6-10 for the side streets) that are strong enough to pull Buster at running speed and making the rig strong enough that they don't destroy it if they hit him.
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Post by c64 on Dec 29, 2012 4:01:09 GMT
I'd expand it to 'avoiding a car', so they could test things like jumping out of the way or running and pushing someone out of the way - both being staples of TV and films. I've been hit by a car once. Fortunately I didn't turn to face the car, instead I turned by back towards the car. That way your knees are bent into a natural direction and you drop onto the hood of the car sliding over it, accelerating rather gently. The windshield could be a great problem since you would have a rather hard impact once you slide all the way over the hood. I had happened to be lucky and rolled off the side so the impact wasn't that hard. I also rolled off to face the ground so I was able to break the fall with my hands and feet. I had some painful black spots and some bruises and lost a boot in the process but I wasn't really injured.
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bioLarzen
Demi-Minion
"I reject your avatars and substitute my own."
Posts: 86
|
Post by bioLarzen on Jan 8, 2013 11:44:29 GMT
There's a lot of talk about what would work visually for this on the show and I got an idea early on when reading through the thread. It's kinda hard for me to explain so bear with me... Well, that sure sounds like a plausible setup and test method to me. bio
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