2027 Science Olympiad Kits

Struggling with building a hovercraft? This kit is a good start. Based on readily available CPU centrifugal blowers, you will supply electronics and basic materials. It comes with 3D printed parts designed to work with a standard 97X33 blower for lift, a 120mm CPU fan for thrust, readily available electronics and even includes holders for your rolls of nickels!

The instructions provided, here, guide you through the basic build process and allows you to make use of a bag, finger, or mattress skirt. An accompanying video here guides you through the process. Much of the details, such as fan selection, platform design, and skirt materials will be left up to you. There is significant information about making those decisions at the end of the instructions, so I strongly recommend reading those whether you use this kit or just want to make your own hovercraft from scratch.

If you want to make a bag skirt like the reference design, the SES Bag Skirt Jig makes that process much easier and includes instructions that are useful whether you use the kit or not.

Making a bag skirt can be difficult because of the shape of the perimeter and having to match the contours of the upper and lower deck while still maintaining the tubular profile. This jig simplifies the process by providing a set of forms to build your skirt on before installing it on your hovercraft. It is specific to the reference design which has an octagonal deck. The overall deck dimensions can be adjusted for different decks, but the corner shape is fixed from the reference design.

Instructions for making the skirt are here, and there is also an instructional video. In all honesty, the video is much more useful because explaining in words how to make a bag skirt is not very efficient.

A launcher for your Division B scrambler car. You get 3D printed parts and combine them with parts from your favorite online retailer and/or you hardware store. This launcher is optimized for use with the SES scrambler car kit, but can be readily modified to “push” any scrambler to victory. This kit uses PVC as the frame as opposed to the standard wood assemblies to allow more interaction with the students, less reliance on dangerous power tools, easy breakdown, and simpler adaptability.

Instructions for the build are provided here and a build video is linked here. I strongly recommend reviewing both before starting your build. I forget to mention in the instructions or the video the use of the car clip as I didn’t have a car to show its use. The car clip holds the SES scrambler car in the ready to launch state where the small hole goes over the vertical dowel and the clip goes around the short vertical pipe at the rear of the launcher. This helps keep the car in place prior to launch and ensures the string starts without slack. As always, send any questions to info@sigmaexpertsolutions.com

This is a set of 3D printed parts that can be combined with readily available parts from your favorite online retailer and the hardware store to build a competitive scrambler car. There are several options for modifications as well as the ability to launch the car with a generic string type launcher. Colors vary. You might get a random assortment. If you have a specific color request or combination, please contact me prior to ordering to see if I have the color available.

A build video is available at: https://youtu.be/89Pg5rTtuoo. The instructions are linked here. Additional instructions on how to make an egg backstop to fit this car are available here. If you need a launcher, check out the SES launcher kit!