Arduino-controlled, water-powered elevator by Baltimore duo on Discovery Channel

Every Friday, Andrew Stroup and Corey Fleischer will recap the latest episode of “The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius.” Stroup and Fleischer are the two Maryland contestants competing on the new Discovery Channel show that NOW airs Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Stroup and Fleischer hold weekly viewing parties starting at 6 p.m. at Luckie’s Tavern
See last week’s summary here.
Episode 5 summary:
This week’s episode required teams to harness the power of a waterfall to build a self-sustainable elevator. Each team was given four days and $5,000 to complete the challenge.
RED team was successful by implementing a waterwheel design, controlled by electronics powered by the waterfall, meaning fully sustainable and automated. The BLUE team was unsuccessful with implementing their design and ultimately Gui was eliminated.
In the race for the wild car, Gui joins the eliminated contestants:

• Joe (team leader)
• Joel
• Alison (team leader)
• Dan (team leader)
• Gui (team leader)

Notice a trend?
If you missed the episode, you can watch it here.
Episode 5 in-depth coverage (for those interested in the RED Team’s design, and the behind-the-scenes “dirt”):
THANKSGIVING: When we filmed the show, Thanksgiving occurred during the middle of the challenge. On Thanksgiving we only worked a half-day and had a Thanksgiving dinner at the house (courtesy of show host Kal Penn). However, this meant we made up for that time the other three days, working 14-hour days instead of 12-hour days.
MY DESIGN: Not caring about winning a design challenge, I came up with some design requiring three or four energy transfers, which was clearly an inefficient design. I was even called out on the energy transfer by the judges, but they seemed receptive to the idea. Honestly, I was worried I might actually get picked as a team leader.
RED TEAM AND DESIGN: Eric was picked as the winner of the blueprint challenge, meaning he had first pick for his team. Eric picked Corey first and then me, forming the Three Amigos for another fun build. Our design captured and controlled the water at the top of the waterfall, redirecting the potential energy onto a giant waterwheel that would lift the elevator. To descend, the water would be diverted from the waterwheel, allowing it to free wheel in reverse, throttled by a motorcycle brake. The entire system was controlled by an Arduino and powered by a mini waterwheel at the top that was attached to an electric generator.
TESTING: Once again, we were given the opportunity to test our design. Starting the second day, we could start installing our design onto the structure. By mid-day the fourth day, we had the entire design installed and was able to test for a solid four hours, which made a significant difference in how well our design worked.
BEHIND THE SCENES: On the fourth day, we never saw the Blue team except for really early in the morning when they installed only the counter weight. We had no idea what was going on in the other shop, but it was nice being able to test our system exclusively, not having to share test time.
WHAT YOU DIDN’T SEE: On competition day, each team was supposed to be given an hour to check their system and perform a quick test prior to face off. Our design was good to go, but the Blue team still didn’t have everything installed, and it took them half the day to install and test.
FUN FACT: We had a blast during this build and I think it was nice for Joel and Alison to be on a team that didn’t have issues. (It was also their first win!) Alison, the creative mind, bought us the bellhop outfits you saw us wear and I think it added a great touch to our presentation.
RESULTS: Red team was safe because we implemented a successful, fully sustainable design. There was clearly a lot of drama on the Blue team, but none of us were privy to what the real issues were beyond second-hand information.
STRATEGY: Beyond not wanting to win the challenge, there was an extra layer to the competition dynamics. If you did win one of the team leader positions, being the runner-up was even worse. This becomes even more of an issue in Episode 6 when the team leaders have to pick from the remaining contestants first and then the eliminated contestants, forcing two picks for the runner-up.