Hi Frank A prototype is a just a simulation of the actual product which doesn't really have to be working. In the past when I had coached a team, kids had acted out the solution in some scenarios where the kids did not actually have the expertise to build the real thing. In one of the projects they created a vacuum from watching youtube videos to simulate their product which makes it cool for judging. If its a product then it can be built using styrofoam/thermocol which looks like the actual product but might not have all moving parts but could have some moving parts like say a moon landrover. Prototype could be built on wheels but the antenna/solar panel would be fake and had to be manually moved etc.. Its always cool to see a working gadget as Judge but then again certain things can only be conceptual. I would add to say of i was judging and I had 2 teams where both had a good concept and 1 team that had a working prototype it would have an advantage over the other team :( Thanks Amit Govil Ex-coach (Doggy Dooers/ Recycling Simplified) On Mon, Oct 29, 2018 at 1:43 PM Frank Levine <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I have a coaching question for the group and I'd be interested to hear > some perspectives from current and former coaches. > > My team has opted to tackle a very difficult, and currently unsolved > problem this year. They learned about this problem when they interviewed > their expert sources and decided to give it a shot. I'm all for tackling > hard problems. > > What's happened since then is that they have done a ton of research. I > feel like they understand the problem very well and I've been working with > them about how to articulate what they've learned. > > Their 'solution' to the problem is much more theoretical than we've done > in previous years. Due to the nature of the problem, they can't really > build or test anything without a NASA sized budget. Once of the keys to > their solution involves some college level electrical engineering knowledge > that they don't have. They know what they want to do, but they lack the > tools to be able to do the calculations to figure out the particulars of > the design. > > As a coach, how should I coach them through this? My gut says that they > should just lay it out there for the judges and hope they appreciate the > difficulty of the problem, but I'd hate for them to get low marks on their > project for not having a rigorous design. I could find an Electrical > Engineer to help them with the calculations, but I feel like that goes > against the 'kids do the work'. > > Thoughts? > > Frank Levine > > ------------------------------ > To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit > https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or > leave the list". > VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. > Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to > subscribe. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe.