Why Am I Reading This?
You are an ambitious and aspiring Hacker/Maker/Whats-a-space that feels the need to go to Maker Faire only to make an impression with the public by “competing” with other Hackerspaces in tiny, heavily modified child’s toy cars.
Wait, What is This?
The Power Racing Series (PPPRS) is an event where Hacker/Whateverspaces turn those toys cars that everyone wanted into highly competitive sort-of racing machines. Teams are allowed quite a few liberties (motors, batteries) but we also made a few restrictions so you masochistic engineers can pleasurably cry yourselves to sleep at night. You have $500 to do this with (aside from safety equipment, cause we don’t want to mop you up either). You also compete in three events, and you’ll have to do more than just drive fast (re: be entertaining) to win points. After all, it’s not like we want an actual race to break out. Oh and it is rather unsafe, so you’ll sign a waiver. You built it, so we knew you’d understand
How Do I Get Involved?
If you read this far, I’m going to assume you’re a part of an organization geared to making cool things. If this is so, get a few of your members involved, and do the following:
- Buy a used or new PowerWheel or Little Tikes
- Modify it to haul your “big bones”
- Report and post your progress on your website (give yourself a pat on the back and all)
- Come to one of the many Maker Faires (Schedule due in early 2012) and race with us!
Why would I dedicated my spare time/money/sanity to compete for something so absurd?
The Hackerspace movement is a growing world-wide community and we at PPPRS would like for all of us to get together and play nice. It’s one thing to talk online but there’s some huge value in good ol’ face-to-face contact. Share ideas, be friendly and get out of that pizza box basement and if it takes fulfilling life-long childhood dreams in front of thousands of confused spectators, so be it.
Do I Need Anything Super Special?
Are you a Hackerspace? Cool. A lot of the stuff you need to pull this Spartan madness off is already around you. If you’re lucky, you might even have a few of the things on our safety list that you need too. You might also have to dig around a few dumpsters, landfills, junkyards but whatever, if you’re anything like us you do that crazy riff-raff already
So What Will This Cost Us?
You have $500 to spend on your vehicle. You can go crazy spending on your safety stuffs (including things like brakes!) If you are resourceful enough your space will have enough of the stuff sitting around to severely cut costs. Keep in mind you’ll also need secondary things like batteries and chargers. You’ll also have to figure out how to get the monstrosity to Kansas City and/or Detroit, but most PowerWheels can squeeze in a medium sized car (especially unassembled). We know it’s not cheap, but you’ll have months to get your act together, and the expenses are spread out over your membership however you wish. You can also seek sponsorship to recoup costs (There’s a packet for that). End of day it’ll be pricey but consider it a small expense to a life-affirming experience.
So a $500 PowerWheel? Don’t they cost that much already?
Some of them do, but you’d be surprised how some cheap some sweet rides are. There’s also no limit of hapless parents that practically give them away when the battery goes south. One year we bought 8 of them for $120. You’ll be cool beans for anywhere around $40-$100 for a used one, any more than that and you might be getting ripped (unless you be ridin’ spinnaz)
Well That’s Crap. Why Don’t I Just Cheat?
Cause our clever panel of PPPRS judges will see beyond your Capone Book keeping and Flim-Flam proof-of-purchase. If your car is suspected of being way more expensive than it should be PPPRS will then force youto sell them the car to them for $500. So keep honest.
Is This Safe?
So you’re taking these tiny little plastic cars and modding them with motors that push them near 20mph and you’re asking me if this is safe? Methinks you need to wear the helmet outside of the track. Racing is dangerous, sign a waiver, and wear protective gear. We’ll be working to make sure the track is as safe as possible so if something does happen it’ll just be a flesh wound.
How Banged Up Are We Going to Get?
You’re used to voiding warranties, so you understand the ramifications of making something do things well beyond what it is designed for. So expect some damage ranging from cosmetic to complete transmission failure. Consider this a rite of passage: improvise, mend what you can, get back out there and do it all over again. We didn’t say it’d be easy, but it’ll be fun. I promise, or you get a free cookie.
How Aggressive Can We Be?
Let’s be reasonable here, we act the way you act. If you want to rough it up, beat and bang, we’ll bring some hurt.
What If We Don’t Know How to Do Any of This?
You’re not alone, we don’t either. You can wing it. Isn’t that the whole point of being a Hackerspace anyway?
What Kind of Events Will There Be?
Expect a road course, a drag race, and an endurance race that sucks the life out of those batteries. Be afraid.
I Presume I Get Points For Winning, so What’s With This Moxie Cup?
Consider it our style awards. Some of you folks aren’t up for Days of Thunder, so we’ll be awarding points for showmanship, generic cultural references, outright outlandishness, and epic failures. The crowd decides if they like you, and will shower you with Moxie Points which count for cold, hard points.
When Can We Start?
Done reading the rules? Go for it. You have until April 30th, but don’t make that the next time we hear from you. We want blog posts that you can either submit to us or we can link to on the Official PPPRS website documenting your progress and tomfoolery. We’ll also bug the hell out of your mailing list to see your progress. The more you get done in advance before Maker Faire, the better off you’ll feel. You might also feel more chipper, I don’t know, maybe you’ll get that promotion. Endless opportunities. Magic. Unicorns. PowerWheels.