The Nerdy Derby is a no-rules* miniature car building and racing competition inspired by the Cub Scouts’ Pinewood Derby. With a larger, more undulating track and no restrictions on the size of the cars or materials participants can use, the Nerdy Derby rewards creativity, cleverness and ingenuity.
The first-ever Nerdy Derby will take place at World Maker Faire New York on September 29th and 30th at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. Visitors can bring their own cars to race, choose from a selection of pre-built cars, or make their cars on site in our workshop.
The Nerdy Derby is organized by a group of students at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. We designed and built the track, and are brainstorming fun ways to “trick it out” with electronic bells and whistles. Not only that, but we’re also building our own cars to compete against each other in preparation for Maker Faire.
Make a car and bring it to race!
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I suppose you can ‘nerd’ it out by putting an RFID card in there so when it goes under a sensor in the track, other electronics could be activated.