View Full Version : How Many Balls can a Trailer Hold???
We were curious ... so here is the results of our little test:
This is 86 balls, and we could probably add some more ...
How about that?
p.s. It makes driving the robot very interesting ...
How did you find 86 Orbit Balls? And wow thats a lot of Orbit balls on one trailer.
I'm hoping these balls were pooled from other teams. Otherwise you've seriously deprived nearby teams from acquiring more balls...
86? Nice work. How many were actually easy to put in, though? I looks like they're literally speared over the uprights, which would probably be pretty hard without going outside the bumper perimeter.
hiimcristhian
08-01-2009, 20:53
How did you find 86 Orbit Balls? And wow thats a lot of Orbit balls on one trailer.
That's exactly what I want to know... we had a really hard time trying to find one Orbit Balls
It looks like you could hold a lot more than 86 if you were able to stack them on top. Just saying
Alex_Miller
08-01-2009, 20:59
Wow, that is a lot, especially considering all of the other teams that need them.
how much did all of those weigh? And, how interesting in the driving?
Wow, that is a lot, especially considering all of the other teams that need them.
how much did all of those weigh? And, how interesting in the driving?
We build a full sized practice field each year completely at our own expense for all teams in the region to use, hence the large quantity. This years field is particularly expensive (over 3X our planned budget) and the kids are having to make a lot of sacrifices to make this available for all of the other teams.
How did we get so many? We have a VERY enthusiastic group of families and not many teams in northeast or Central Georgia ... Simply went there and dug through a LOT of bins. The Walmart folks were very helpful when they found out what we were doing.
Weight: We weighed a sample: 35 balls weighs 17.5 lbs.
86? Nice work. How many were actually easy to put in, though? I looks like they're literally speared over the uprights, which would probably be pretty hard without going outside the bumper perimeter.
Actually, we have done a fair amount of driving with the trailer while throwing balls and were surprised to find that a LARGE number of balls ended up on the poles. We also had a number of balls simply get stuck BETWEEN the poles due to the pole and ball flexibility.
The picture is contrived, of course. The kids were just fooling around ...
Alex Dinsmoor
08-01-2009, 21:26
We build a full sized practice field each year completely at our own expense for all teams in the region to use, hence the large quantity. This years field is particularly expensive (over 3X our planned budget) and the kids are having to make a lot of sacrifices to make this available for all of the other teams.
How did we get so many? We have a VERY enthusiastic group of families and not many teams in northeast or Central Georgia ... Simply went there and dug through a LOT of bins. The Walmart folks were very helpful when they found out what we were doing.
Weight: We weighed a sample: 35 balls weighs 17.5 lbs.
That explains the outrageous number of balls in that trailer. ;)
It is very nice of your team to provide a full size field for everyones use, that is something that my team would love to have the opportunity to use.
Can you go for 100 balls? :)
Alex_Miller
08-01-2009, 21:27
We build a full sized practice field each year completely at our own expense for all teams in the region to use, hence the large quantity. This years field is particularly expensive (over 3X our planned budget) and the kids are having to make a lot of sacrifices to make this available for all of the other teams.
Weight: We weighed a sample: 35 balls weighs 17.5 lbs.
Gotcha,
So 43 pounds for all of them. (granted this would be hard to do in a match)
.5lbs/ball
Team 1865
08-01-2009, 23:17
My team was wondering, Does the trailer's mass once full of balls influence the driving capabilities of the robot?
My team was wondering, Does the trailer's mass once full of balls influence the driving capabilities of the robot?
Driving doesn't change too much.
Stopping does.
Kinda like the energizer bunny - it keeps going .. and going .. and going ...
Prontopwnage
09-01-2009, 12:09
thanks for the info ppl
interesting though:cool: :yikes:
Daniel885
09-01-2009, 12:28
Hmm, Dean Kamen and co. probably knew all about how it would get harder and harder to stop as the match went on...
Good way to build excitement throughout the match.
thanks for the info.
that is intresting to know.
lets hope this doesn't happen to anyone ;)
dibh4ever
09-01-2009, 15:11
Is the robot permited to pick up balls from the floor and then launch em again? You know, kike reusing them. If a ball is on the floor and we pick it up without touching the floor does it count as a penalty, is it permited?:confused:
Is the robot permited to pick up balls from the floor and then launch em again? You know, kike reusing them. If a ball is on the floor and we pick it up without touching the floor does it count as a penalty, is it permited?:confused:
I expect that strategy to be used by many teams this year. The GDC has even said that your robot can touch the floor as long as it doesn't provide extra traction.
Rion Atkinson
09-01-2009, 15:17
That's awesome. I can only hope to see a trailer running around that full. :)
Quick question. About how much did the field cost?
Cyberphil
09-01-2009, 15:19
Is the robot permited to pick up balls from the floor and then launch em again? You know, kike reusing them. If a ball is on the floor and we pick it up without touching the floor does it count as a penalty, is it permited?:confused:
Im not quite sure what your trying to say, but the answer to the question i think your asking is yes, you are allowed to use any balls on the ground, at any time in the match, even if they were used once already. If they are on the ground, they are anybody's balls, even the super cells.
Hope that helps
CDH Jeff
09-01-2009, 17:11
my question is how to prevent my teams trailer from looking like that.
my question is how to prevent my teams trailer from looking like that.
Move and your robot probaly wont. I'd be extreamly suprised if it did when you were moving the whole time.
WhiteShadow1474
09-01-2009, 20:44
my question is how to prevent my teams trailer from looking like that.
Simple. You get on your knees and pray with all your will that the other alliance doesn't have a monstrous robot and Michael Jordon.
But you know that in the real game nobody will be able to put 86 balls in the trailer. How many you think you will be able to put?
(sorry about the english...:P)
I wonder if there's a Guinness World Record for something like that...
Anyway, 1197 did a more "realistic" test with our trailer and we came up with 25 balls (23 in and above the trailer and 2 through the pipes).
There is a +/- 3 ball margin of error. Therefore, a trailer should hold a maximum of 22-28 balls depending on how they settle during the match.
Does that sound reasonable?
EDIT: Also, props to the guy that's wearing the shirt.woot shirt. You have good taste in ... err ... shirts.
smurfgirl
11-01-2009, 16:53
I wonder if there's a Guinness World Record for something like that...
Anyway, 1197 did a more "realistic" test with our trailer and we came up with 25 balls (23 in and above the trailer and 2 through the pipes).
There is a +/- 3 ball margin of error. Therefore, a trailer should hold a maximum of 22-28 balls depending on how they settle during the match.
Does that sound reasonable?
It sounds a lot more like match circumstances, for sure.
Quick question. About how much did the field cost?
We've budgeted $3500 for all of the balls, FRP, 6 Trailers, 4-5 dummy robots, Fueling stations and misc. items (outpost, etc).
We are working on a donation of the FRP which will help a lot ...
I wonder if there's a Guinness World Record for something like that...
Anyway, 1197 did a more "realistic" test with our trailer and we came up with 25 balls (23 in and above the trailer and 2 through the pipes).
There is a +/- 3 ball margin of error. Therefore, a trailer should hold a maximum of 22-28 balls depending on how they settle during the match.
Does that sound reasonable?
We did the same test and got the same answer. I really think we will see trailers with 20-25 balls in them (hopefully not ours ...)
We have also found that a rather large percentage end up hanging on the rails. After throwing 20 balls at the trailer, we often find 4-5 hung on the rails.
SammyKay
11-01-2009, 19:13
Wow. That is more than we thought could make it in. Our team was thinking a few over 19 ish. Many of us were only thinking INSIDE the trailer. I know I wasn't really thinking about the balls getting onto the poles....That's amazing tho. Thanks for answering my question about how many could realistically make it in/on our trailer!!
thefro526
11-01-2009, 19:38
When we were playing with our trailer the other day and I figured that realistically most trailers on average won't be filled beyond 15 balls this year in most matches. That being said I don't think it'll be uncommon to see a trailer get filled with 20-25 balls assuming some a impaled and the rungs on the outside. We'll probably see at least one or two rare cases where a trailer will be filled beyond 25 but it's going to be more luck based than skill based.
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