{"id":610,"date":"2024-12-21T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/control-advent.com\/?p=610"},"modified":"2025-11-28T19:06:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T18:06:50","slug":"21-the-golden-skate-coaching-reindeer-to-synchronized-perfection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/control-advent.com\/?p=610","title":{"rendered":"21 – The Golden Skate: Coaching Reindeer to Synchronized Perfection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author of this question:<\/strong>\u00a0Steffi Knorn,\u00a0Fachgebiet\u00a0Regelungstechnik<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>Technische Universit\u00e4t Berlin, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa loves watching figure skating, and he’s recently become a big fan of seeing whole teams moving gracefully together on the ice in perfect choreography. Now, it’s become such a popular trend that a local competition is focusing on synchronized reindeer skating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Santa’s reindeer team didn\u2019t do well\u2014they didn\u2019t even make it to the podium! Each reindeer was doing its own thing, so there wasn\u2019t any smooth, synchronized movement. Instead, it was a mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main problem was that some reindeer skated too fast, while others moved too slowly, which led to them bumping into each other and causing a chain reaction of falls. On top of that, some reindeer\u2019s skates weren\u2019t properly adjusted, so they were more affected by bumps on the ice. In the end, Santa\u2019s team put on such a clumsy show that people jokingly suggested it should be an entertainment act for the intermission instead of a serious competition entry. In short, it was a pretty embarrassing disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, though, Santa is determined to do better, and he’s appointed Rudolph as the new team coach to bring home the gold medal. Rudolph\u2019s challenge is to figure out the best strategy to get high points for synchronized skating. Plus, he needs a strategy that can work smoothly even if they add a lot more reindeer to the team this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What strategy should Rudolph use to help the reindeer skate in perfect sync and improve their chances of winning?<\/p>\n\n\n

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a. \u2728\ud83c\udfad\ud83d\udc57 Embrace the failure and make it a fun show for this year’s intermission. There is no way to fix this. Instead, make each of the 16 reindeer wear glittery costumes. It’s figure skating after all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

b. \u26f8\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc3\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83d\udc22 Arrange the reindeer such that the faster ones skate in the front and the slower ones skate at the back of the formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

c. \ud83e\udd2b\ud83d\udce3\ud83d\udc4b Secretly stand somewhere near the ice rink where all reindeer can see him and give visual instructions \/ signs from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

d. \ud83d\udcaa\ud83d\udcd8\u23f1\ufe0f Make each of the 16 reindeer train much harder and memorise their individual routine perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

e. \ud83c\udfb5\ud83d\udc42\ud83c\udfbb Make each of the 16 reindeer listen to the music and move according to the acoustic clues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

f. \ud83d\udc40\ud83e\udd1d\ud83e\udd8c Have each of the 16 reindeer watch the reindeer skating next to them. Tell them they should try to copy their movements and stay centered between the reindeer around them.<\/p>\n\n\n