The "Rain Gauge Design Competition" is organized by the Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). It aims to enrich students’ knowledge in both engineering and meteorology.
All primary and secondary school students of Hong Kong are welcome to take part in the competition. Teams fall into either of the two categories: Junior and Senior. A team should comprise 1 teacher advisor and a maximum of 5 students. A student can participate in only one team, while a teacher is allowed to act as an advisor of more than one team. At most three teams can come from each school. Each team is required to submit one set of deliverables as follows:
| Category | Deliverables | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain gauge | Report | Presentation | |
| Junior | Design and implementation of a rain gauge | Documentation on the design and operation of the rain gauge, how readings can be taken, trial records, etc. | 15 minutes |
| Senior | Design and implementation of an automatic rain gauge, including hardware and software for feeding data automatically through a computer | Documentation on the design and operation of the rain gauge, circuits, software, how readings can be taken, trial records, etc. | 15 minutes |
Both Junior and Senior teams should observe the requirements R-01 to R-05 below:
| Description | |
|---|---|
| R-01 | The rain gauge should be capable of automatically (senior teams) or manually (junior teams) measuring the amount of rain fallen over a period of time. |
| R-02 | There is no restriction on the choices of materials for the rain gauge. The rain gauge should be waterproof and durable for prolonged outdoor use. The cost for the design and fabrication of the rain gauge, excluding computers (for data archival and analysis), should be less than HKD 1000. There will be no subsidy from organizers for making the rain gauge. |
| R-03 | The rain gauge should be able to be properly secured to the ground to prevent it from being blown over, or even blown away, by the wind. It should also be installed in a safe manner so as not to cause injury or danger to people, e.g. students tipping over. |
| R-04 | The report should be prepared in a concise manner, comprising preferably no more than 10 pages (diagrams included). It should preferably be printed on A4-sized paper. A hard copy of the report should be delivered. It can optionally be supplemented by soft copies on CDROM or DVD-ROM. |
| R-05 | Each group will be allocated 15 minutes for presentation. Participants are suggested to spend about 10 minutes for presentation and/or demonstration, and 5 minutes for questions and answers from the judges. A computer with projection facility will be provided at the presentation room. |
Senior teams should observe the following additional requirements R-06 to R-08:
| Reqt. | Description |
|---|---|
| R-06 | The rain gauge should preferably be self emptying and completely autonomous in operation. |
| R-07 | The rain gauge should be capable of identifying the times rain begins to fall and stop. |
| R-08 | The system should be capable of storing the measured rainfall data onto digital storage media or sending the data directly to the collection website. |
Registered participants are eligible for attending workshops and visits organized by the HKU Faculty of Engineering and the Hong Kong Observatory. A tentative schedule of the activities, with highlighted important dates, is tabled in the Schedule page. Attendance certificates will be issued to registered team members and teacher advisors participating in talks and workshops.
Registration forms should be filled in by the principal or teacher in charge of the participating school. Completed application forms should be sent to:
Organizing Committee, Rain Gauge Design Competition Department of Computer Science, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong
or fax to 25598447 on or before 2006-03-25[Sat]. You can register online, print out the PDF registration form here, or print out this page as registration form. The submission time will be based on the date of postmark. Late submission will not be accepted.
The deliverables should be sent to the following address on or before 2006-08-12[Sat] 1300:
| Address |
Rain Gauge Design Competition, Department of Computer Science, Room 301, Chow Yei Ching Building, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. |
| Office Hours |
Mondays to Fridays: 0900–1300; 1400–1700 Saturdays: 0900–1300 Sundays and Public Holidays: Closed |
The deliverables shall be accompanied by a duly completed deliverable submission form. Late submission will not be accepted.
The judging panel consists of professionals from HKU Faculty of Engineering and the Hong Kong Observatory. The judging criteria are as follows:
| Criterion | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| J-01 | Research | Content of report, data collection and testing methodologies. |
| J-02 | Innovation | How innovative ideas have been applied in the design of the rain gauge. |
| J-03 | Accuracy | How the rain gauge measures truthfully under different situations. |
| J-04 | Appearance | Does the instrument look sleek, neat and tidy. |
| J-05 | Presentation | Performance in the project presentation session. |
The prizes of each category are as follows:
| Prize | Award |
|---|---|
| Champion | A trophy will be awarded to the team, and a certificate to each team member. |
| First runner-up | |
| Second runner-up | |
| The most innovative rain gauge award | A certificate will be awarded to the team and each team member. |
| The most accurate rain gauge award | |
| The most attractive rain gauge award |
All participating teams are invited to an award presentation ceremony on 2006-09-09[Sat] when the results will be announced. The list of price winners will also be published in this web site.