I see nothing wrong with "trivial" solutions.
It will be terrible boring if everybody will start using FPGAs or microcontrollers for precise timing and precise firing of the gas.
This competition was great last year especially for allowing very crude solutions to compete with very elaborated ones. That was the main reason for so many crazy approaches in the 2017 entries.
1Hz, 50% duty is very limiting, in the sense that it will eliminate most of the simple but very ingenious solutions, and will require more complex but standard approaches, in order to achieve the required timing. Also, 1Hz with what precision, an RC timing, Quartz, Rubidium?
A range of frequencies and duty factors is what I would have liked to see, as it was in 2017. To recap:
- A permissive range will allow more imaginative solutions.
- A restrictive range will lead to standard solutions.
- This competition is all about imagination.
Then the gas, mostly Neon only is very limiting. I would have liked to see any kind of gas allowed.