This contest takes place in the desert in the southwestern United States. There is a mechanical Road Runner device which is basically a small, extremely fast R/C car that runs on pre-programmed routes through the desert and is controlled remotely by the contest officals via video feed. While it runs on a pre-planned route, officials are allowed to make slight evasive maneuvers if they detect a snare. A fake ACME Store is set up and contestants are given a certain amount of virtual money to spend at the store. The store contains such things as steel cabling, ropes, snares, rocket skates, jet packs, bird seed, etc... The object of the game is to catch the Road Runner using any means necessary in the smallest amount of time, but only using equipment available at the ACME store. Each contestant is given a map of the pre-planned routes that the Road Runner will take, and is given 4 hours to set up their snare. They are not allow to pre-test their snare and only get one shot at executing it. The Road Runner will stop at small piles of bird seed for a random number of seconds, up to 5 seconds. The Road Runner cannot be destroyed, only caught (meaning you can't just drop a boulder on it). Whoever can catch the Road Runner the fastest using the least amount of "money" wins.
All contestants will be required to sign an insurance waiver.-- DeathNinja, Aug 06 2003 Illustrated Catalog of ACME Products http://home.nc.rr.c...oney/acme/acme.html [krelnik, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Meep! Meep!
I don't think it should be just set in the SW US. You can use the same general idea of setting untested traps in many scenarios.
Stop the Pigeon!-- Jinbish, Aug 06 2003 Funny you posted this today, just yesterday I ran across a site that has an exhaustive catalog of ACME products from the cartoons. See link.-- krelnik, Aug 06 2003 Would the supplies at the ACME store be rigged to preferentially distribute the majority of their effect on the purchaser?-- beauxeault, Aug 06 2003 Hahaha, this is the business! (+) Perhaps instead of a mechanical roadrunner they could use convicts a la Running Man?-- rodti, Aug 06 2003 Ah yes. Perhaps this could be interesting in an urban setting as well.-- DeathNinja, Aug 06 2003 I could watch this for hours, just like Garibaldi.-- sartep, Aug 06 2003 DeathNinja, you ought to put your email addy in your profile.-- thumbwax, Aug 11 2003 //contestants are given a certain amount of virtual money to spend at the store//
y'know, i've been watching roadrunner longer than i can remember and never once did i see wile e coyote pull out a wallet... why not just give the contestants said apparatuses and leave them to their devices? whomever manages to catch the bugger wins.
still, a great idea. +-- gothgeekboi, Aug 11 2003 Have any of you seen the cartoon episode of farscape? That is funny.
Back onto the idea, will the things ever fall for fake pasageways painted onto rock walls?-- RobertKidney, Aug 11 2003 Yes, you'd need to have a damn good lawyer. In some cases, insurance waivers just aren't enough.
Damn, those links are funny, [UnaBubba].-- Detly, Aug 11 2003 random, halfbakery