Student-Made Devices Compete in 2015 JPL Invention Challenge

 

Middle- and high-school teams will demonstrate unique devices they have built to compete in the Ball Fling Contest, the annual Invention Challenge hosted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena this Friday, December 4, 2015.

The Ball Fling Contest objective is to create a device that can propel three supplied playground balls to three different targets in less than 60 seconds. Point values are awarded for each successfully completed target. The team whose device accumulates the most points becomes the winner.

Twenty-one student teams from 16 high schools in Southern California are competing in the challenge. They were invited to the JPL Invention Challenge based on results from two regional contests held in November.

Three teams composed of JPL engineers and scientists are also in the competition.

While the contest rules change each year, the goal is the same – to give students an opportunity to be creative and have fun with math, science and engineering.

One of this year’s requirements is that devices must be initiated by a single action by the team’s operator for each launch of the playground ball – e.g., cut a string, flick a switch, pull a pin, etc. No human power may be used during the initiation of the device.

The length and width of the device are limited to 2 meters or 6 feet 6 inches. The devices must also be made from non-toxic, safe materials.

Trophies are divided into two categories: one for JPL employee/family/contractor entries, and the other for school team entries. Certificates will be issued for the largest, smallest, lightest, heaviest, most unusual, most artistic and most creative designs.

The event is open for public viewing at the JPL Mall Area, at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., rain or shine.

For more information, visit www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/inventionchallenge/2015/index.php.