Londonderry Middle School |
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Mickey, Andy, Benjie, Robbie, Stephen and Justin a.k.a. "The DI Dudes" finished 4th in the WORLD! This is the fifth year in a row for this group of (now) eighth graders and they are really excited to be going back. "Global Finals is such an awesome event, we can't wait to be part of it again and to showoff our creativity", according to a team quote. "We have got a really cool solution this year". Half the members were part of the original DI Dudes since second grade. The other three have joined along the way and created a really cool group. "We all love doing DI and every year we do a more technical challenge. This is because we love building things, and we also like taking things apart". Who can argue with that?!! Globals Update The DI Dudes, now five year veterans of Destination ImagiNation Global Finals are back, and were welcomed BIG TIME at the Globals venue! Their challenge this year was to design and build a delivery device that shoots up to 5 balls through the air into a receiver that catches the balls and automatically returns them to the delivery device. The more balls caught by the receiver, the more points the team gets. Points are also rewarded for the size of the receiver opening (the smaller the more points) and the distance the balls are shot from the delivery device to the receiver (the further distance the more points). Each team has 8 minutes to set-up their delivery device and receiver and operate them. The team's receiver caught 321balls at the NH-DI State Finals.
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The Dudes are really proud of the solution this year, and they should be! Their delivery device was modeled after a baseball pitching machine using two drills with lawnmower wheels attached that shoot tennis balls 14 feet horizontally in the air. The receiver is made of wood and old bed sheets, and has an opening that is 3 feet high by 5 feet wide. After the balls enter the receiver, they are funneled into a return device which uses an old leaf blower to shoot the balls down a 16 foot PVC pipe and fed back into the delivery device. The balls travel to and from the devices without any human intervention! The team used some acoustic foam to help muffle the sound from the leaf blower, and decorated the receiver so it blends in with our story. When they entered the performance space the responsive cheers of "N-H" "D-I" rang through the hall, with hardly a seat open! The story tied with this technical challenge took place in the brain, and is a love story about a confused caffeine molecule named "Caffe" and an undercover sleeping pill we call "Moonesta". Caffe steals the adenosine -- a natural sleeping chemical in the brain -- while it's traveling through a synapse. Moonesta is called in by the Synapseville police chief to locate the missing adenosine and discover who stole it. At first sight, Caffe and Monesta fall in love but things go sour after Moonesta reveals her assignment to Caffe causing him to run away to avoid being caught. Eventually, Caffe does the right thing and returns the adenosine. When Moonesta is about to disintegrate since she is no longer needed, Caffe returns and he and Moonesta proclaim their love for each other by singing their hit ballad, "Together". This is the stuff the tabloids crave! |
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