Buggy Watch Parties in YOUR AREA!

Posted on | by ben | 21 Comments on Buggy Watch Parties in YOUR AREA!
The BAA is making a push to encourage local alumni groups to host Race Day Watch Parties on the Saturday morning of Carnival as a way of bringing the buggy alumni community closer together, generating a spark that leads to a more cohesive community across the country!
Are you interested in seeing Watch Party come to your city? Help us push forward the plan to host simultaneous alumni gatherings throughout major cities on the day of the Finals. For each city, we will need one person to take the lead in either securing a location or arranging for a viewing at someone’s home. Contact Jillian Brinberg at jrbrinberg (at) gmail.com if this piques your interest, you want to take part in it, you have any questions, or you’d like to talk through some of your own ideas!

Timing Data: March 26

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 3 Comments on Timing Data: March 26

This past weekend a couple of our alumni were out recording buggy speeds in two different locations on the course. One took timing data after the chute turn, but we unfortunately don’t have that compiled yet and is summarized in the second table. These data are listed in roll order as several of the buggy IDs were unable to to be collected. Shafeeq was out and using his camera system on Sunday to get terminal Freeroll speeds. That data is summarized in the first table. The rolls are ordered by increasing speed.

Unsurprisingly, SDC, Spirit, CIA, PiKA, and Fringe had the fastest rolls of the day, with Spirit and PiKA each taking 3 of the top 10 spots (Banshee for PiKA and Inviscid for Spirit). What’s truly noteworthy is that Spirit has stepped up to the top of the class. And they’re getting through the chute successfully, though they fall a second or two behind SDC/PiKA/CIA/Fringe by the time they reach Hill 3. It’s likely that driver skill and pusher beefiness are going to play big rolls in determining placement this Raceday.

Freeroll Speeds

Time Team Buggy Speed (mph)
7:32 PhiDelt Perun 23.2
8:24 Apex Ember 26.2
8:18 SigEP Pandora 26.6
8:43 SigEP Pandora 27.1
8:19 SigEP Kraken 27.6
7:37 AEPi Kamikaze 28.3
8:42 SigEP Kraken 28.5
7:59 AEPi Kamikaze 28.9
8:21 AEPi Kamikaze 28.9
7:57 SigEP Kraken 29.3
8:45 AEPi Kamikaze 29.4
7:41 Apex Phoenix 29.6
8:01 SAE Lucy 29.6
8:39 PhiDelt Perun 29.7
7:54 PhiDelt Perun 29.9
8:03 Apex Phoenix 29.9
7:39 SAE Lucy 30
8:15 PhiDelt Perun 30.1
7:35 SigEP Kraken 30.8
7:48 SDC Havoc 31.3
8:05 CIA Impulse 31.3
8:35 Fringe Beacon 31.3
8:37 Spirit II 31.7
8:11 Fringe Balius 31.8
7:47 SDC Bane 32
8:34 Fringe II 32.2
8:31 SDC Bane 32.4
8:28 CIA Tempest 32.4
8:34 Fringe Balius 32.5
7:46 SDC Orange 32.5
7:53 Spirit II 32.5
7:30 Spirit II 32.7
8:09 SDC Bane 32.8
7:50 Fringe Balius 33.5
7:50 Fringe II 33.9
7:30 Spirit Zuke 34.5
7:43 CIA Equinox 34.7
8:13 Spirit Zuke 34.7
7:52 Spirit I 34.8
8:04 CIA Equinox 34.8
8:11 Fringe Bissa 34.8
7:43 CIA Icarus 35.1
8:34 Fringe Bissa 35.1
8:37 Spirit I 35.1
8:40 PiKA Banshee 35.1
7:33 PiKA Banshee 35.3
7:50 Fringe Bissa 35.3
7:56 PiKA Banshee 35.3
8:16 PiKA Banshee 35.9
8:27 CIA Equinox 35.9
8:07 SDC Malice 36.1
8:36 Spirit Inviscid 36.1
7:52 Spirit Inviscid 36.4
7:29 Spirit Inviscid 36.6
7:46 SDC Malice 36.6

 

Chute Speeds (taken at light post)

  MPH
PIKA 23.4497
   Unable to see
  23.9282
  17.6503
CIA 28.5972
CIA 26.8215
  23.1847
  24.2822
  21.0987
Fringe 29.3121
  24.2106
SDC 29.6296
  20.8309
PIKA 22.9899
  14.2242
  19.8726
CIA 26.3057
CIA 28.5972
  23.9282
SDC 27.1768
  23.1194
Fringe 27.1768
  23.3829
  26.9095
  24.3543
  22.0629
  22.3635
  20.5185
  22.5478
  19.7768
CIA-B/R 27.1768
  22.6723
  26.3903
  23.5844
  22.4860
  22.3635
Fringe 27.2671
  24.5730
  22.9257
  20.4673

Rolls Report: March 26 & 27 – Two weeks until Raceday!

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 8 Comments on Rolls Report: March 26 & 27 – Two weeks until Raceday!

Spring was in the air this week and Pittsburgh finally let us have a nice full weekend of rolls. All 10 teams rolled at least one day and what’s more, we are happy to report that although there were a couple controlled stops, there were no spins or other accidents. This always great to see as Raceday rapidly approaches. We had a couple alumni taking times for max Freeroll speed and Chute times. We don’t as of yet have the data for you, but we will be posting the Freeroll speeds Thursday. To tide you over, we can report that the teams with the fastest individual Freerolls this weekend were (in descending order): SDC, Spirit, PiKA, CIA and Fringe. This is none too surprising given last year’s Raceday results.

Speaking of that glorious day that we’ve been looking forward to all year, be sure to check out the planned buggy-related events. You can find an interactive calendar of events here.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi  Kamikaze  Kamikaze
Apex  Phoenix  Phoenix, Ember
CIA  Tempest, Orca, Icarus, Equinox, Impulse  Icarus, Impulse, Equinox, Tempest
Fringe  Balius, Bissa  Balius, Bissa, Bolt, RD16
PiKA  Banshee, RD16  RD16
PhiDelt  Perun  Perun
SAE  Lucy  Lucy
SDC Malice, Havoc, Avarice, Bane  Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice
SigEp Pandora, Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Fuko, Seraph  Inviscid, Fuko, Seraph, Zuke

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

Rolls Report: March 19 – Snowy Rolls

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 6 Comments on Rolls Report: March 19 – Snowy Rolls

With last week being CMU’s spring break, we’ve been going through some serious buggy withdrawal for two weekends in a row. This past Saturday saw 7 teams and 17 buggies making their way around the course. After the first two teams rolled on Sunday, Pittsburgh decided that heavy snow was in order.  Given that no team currently has windshield wipers installed on their buggies, Sweepstakes called it and all parties returned home.  There are only 3 weekends left before Carnival, and it’s starting to get desperate for teams to be qualified to compete on Raceday. In the coming weeks, we will hopefully be seeing a strong showing from all the teams.

Unfortunately this week the BAA was unable to get the speed trap up and running, so there isn’t any timing data for last weekend. Given how close we are to Carnival, we should have everything setup for data collection in the coming weeks.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
Apex  Phoenix
CIA  Tempest, Orca, Icarus, Equinox
Fringe  Balius, Bissa
PiKA  Banshee
SDC  Malice, Havoc, Avarice
SigEp Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Zuke, Fuko, Seraph

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

A word from our Head Raceday Preview Editor

Posted on | by ben | 3 Comments on A word from our Head Raceday Preview Editor

And now a word from Aileen:

Hello BAA members! It’s almost the best time of the year – Spring Carnival time! Every year we publish a detailed Raceday Preview. This year, we’re looking for new input – do you have exciting insider information? Opinions about new wheels, aerodynamics, or other buggy trends? A list of complaints about how things used to be better? We would love any and all new articles, or help with existing article ideas including team season recaps and interviews with key buggy personnel. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Raceday preview, contact Aileen at aileen@cmubuggy.org.

Remember to renew your membership TODAY if you would like to get your preview as soon as it’s available. http://cmubuggy.org/membership

ONE Month to Raceday! We Want New Voices!

Posted on | by ben

Calling all buggy people!

Friday Buggy Panel

With Carnival only a few short weeks away, we would like to invite anyone and everyone to come to our second Raceday Buggy Panel! We will be holding it at the same time as last year, but likely in a new location (more details on that later). We had a wonderful group of panelists last year and we would love to have some new voices on the panel this year. We are looking for both students and alumni to join the panel to give us a wide range of ideas and experiences to share with anyone that attends.

Wednesday WRCT broadcast

Continuing on, we will be having our Wednesday night broadcast on WRCT before the races to give you a live discussion of what to look out for while you’re at the races or watching from home. We are looking for some current students or local alums to join us in the booth and talk all things buggy from this year!

If you are interested in being a part of the Friday Panel or the WRCT broadcast, please contact Ben Matzke (ben.matzke@cmubuggy.org) and let him know that you’re available!

Timing Data: Feb 28

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 11 Comments on Timing Data: Feb 28

This past weekend our intrepid alumni ran the new and ever improving speed trap to gather some very interesting data. The trap was set up just after the monument in the Freeroll, so the posted values should represent terminal buggy speed. Not all the buggy names have been matched to their roll, however rolls are listed in chronological order. We will update the buggy IDs as we figure them out. If you happen to know a given ID, please leave a comment so we can edit appropriately. Some rolls have two MPHs listed because two alumni were independently determining speeds.

We can officially say that PiKA, SDC, and Fringe were consistently the fastest buggies rolling on Saturday. This isn’t terribly surprising given the teams’ histories and what we saw last semester.

Sequence Team ID Movie ID MPH 1 MPH 2
1 CIA  Equinox 126 34.67
2 CIA Impulse 127 31.35
3 SDC Black 128 34.67
4 SDC Avarice 129 31.59
5 SDC Purple 130 33.12
6 Fringe Lt. Blue 131 35.89
7 Fringe 132 30.3
8 Spirit 133 33.12
9 Spirit 134 22.6
10 Spirit
11 Spirit
12 Pika Raptor 135 34.82 35.27
13 Pika Banshee 136 39.15 39.73
14 Apex Apex 137 16.14 16.15
15 CIA Equinox 138 34.38 34.57
16 CIA Impulse 139 31.71 32.31
17 SDC black 140 38.05 37.57
18 SDC Stopped after stop sign before Phipps crosswalk
19 Fringe Blue 141 36.86 37.99
20 Fringe Grey 142 35.57 36.39
21 Fringe Blue 143 33.95 33.89
22 Spirit Grey 144 34.23 34.57
23 Spirit Grey 145 30.41 30.86
24 Spirit Grey 146 31.96 31.14
25 Spirit Grey 147 31.47 31.14
26 Pika Raptor 148 35.11 35.64
27 Pika Banshee 149 38.59 38.84
28 Apex 150 23.71 23.84
29 CIA Equinox 151 34.38 33.89
30 CIA Impulse 152 33.12 32.31
31 SDC Black 153 38.96 39.73
32 SDC Avarice 154 32.6 32.61
33 SDC Purple 155 30.99 30.59
34 Spirit Grey 156 36.86 36.77
35 Spirit 157 32.99
36 Spirit 158 30.99
37 Spirit 159 32.21
38 Spirit 160 31.11
39 Pika Raptor 161 35.27 34.92
40 Pika Banshee 162 38.96 39.28
41 Apex 163 25.1
42 CIA Equinox 164 35.57
43 CIA Impulse 165 32.47
44 SDC Black 166 36.2
45 SDC Avarice 167 33.95
46 SDC Purple 168 32.34
47 Fringe Blue 169 38.41
48 Fringe Grey 170 35.42
49 Fringe Blue 171 32.86
50 Spirit Grey 172 34.23
51 Spirit Grey 173 30.3
52 Spirit into hay bales 174 31.23
53 Spirit Stopped in chute due to wreck
54* Pika Raptor 175 34.52 34.57
55 Pika Banshee 176 35.57 35.64
56 Apex 177 26.74
57 CIA Impulse 178 33.26
58 CIA passing 33.12
59 SDC Black 179 38.41 38.84
60 SDC Avarice 180 33.53
61 SDC Purple 181 32.73
62 Fringe Blue 182 38.78
63 Fringe Blue 183 33.81
64 Spirit 184 35.57
65 Spirit 185 32.09
66 Pika  Raptor 186 36.36
67 Pika  Banshee 187 37.53
68 Apex 188 26.39
69 CIA Equinox 189 37.02
70 CIA Impulse 190 32.99
71 SDC Black 191 38.05
72 SDC Avarice 192 33.95
73 Fringe Blue 193 37.53
74 Fringe Blue 194 33.81
75 Pika Raptor 195 35.57 36.39
76 Pika Banshee 196 36.86 37.57
77 CIA Equinox 197 36.2 37.57
78 CIA Impulse 198 34.82 35.27
79 SDC Avarice  Missed
80 SDC Purple 199 31.71 32.01

Rolls Report: Feb 28 – Another Minimum Quorum Day

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 12 Comments on Rolls Report: Feb 28 – Another Minimum Quorum Day

Weather prevented rolls this Saturday, but buggies were out rolling Sunday with far fewer Uber cabs and fire trucks. The Speed Trap system was out again and after some slight modifications was performing much better than last weekend. One improvement was implementation of additional cameras to test accuracy of the speeds gathered. The results are promising. Tom Wood and Ben Brown have compiled all the collected data, although it has not yet been labeled by buggy. You can find the unlabeled data in its own post tomorrow. So far it looks like PiKA, Fringe, SDC, and CIA are taking the top spots. No surprise, given last semester.

Despite the rapidly approaching Raceday, only a handful of teams are coming out. Buggies were rolling this weekend with a minimum quorum. Those teams that did come out collected nearly half a dozen rolls each.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
Apex Ember, Phoenix
CIA Impulse, Equinox
Fringe Balius, Bissa, Beacon
PiKA Banshee, Raptor
SDC Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice
Spirit Inviscid, Zuke, Fuko, Seraph, King Pin

Observations (Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

Rolls Report: Feb 20 & 21 – First Day of Spring Rolls

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier

This past weekend marked the first rolls of the spring semester (the earliest start in a few years!). Thanks to last week’s ice storm, the City of Pittsburgh had excessively salted the roads. The extra seasoning coupled with dampness caused a late start on Saturday. After some vigorous sweeping the teams started off the semester quite smoothly with a comfortable weekend of rolls.

The much anticipated speed trap was set up just past the monument where it can be completely out of the way of traffic. Data is, of course, not particularly useful since first day hiccups are still being worked out and most buggies started out bagged. Importantly, the system got the live tests it needed so that its operators can begin to dial in the accuracy.

The most exciting non-buggy related event of the weekend occurred when an Uber driver blew through the bridge barricade. Although the police officer on duty attempted to stop him, the driver just raced past to the inner barricade outside of Phipps. Never before have we seen such a determined Uber driver nor such an embarrassed passenger.
On Saturday, a firetruck also pulled up to the outer barricade, but without an emergency on the other side, they were calmly directed the long way around.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
CIA  Impulse, Orca, Icarus, Equinox Impulse, Orca, Icarus, Equinox
Fringe  Balius, Bissa, Beacon Balius, Bissa, Beacon
PhiDelt  Perun  Perun
PiKA  Banshee, Raptor Banshee, Raptor
SDC  Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice Malice, Havoc, Bane Avarice
Spirit  Inviscid, Zuke, Fuko, Seraph, King Pin Inviscid, Zuke, Fuko, Seraph, King Pin

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →