Carpet Problems
 

Everyone that went to the IRI Competition was reminded how big a problem carpet damage is. It moves all over, and chances are if you used anything other than a rubber material for traction you tore the carpet at least once. I was curious if anyone had a good idea for a replacement for the troublesome carpet or possibly a new rule to prevent it.

Some Ideas...
 

Although i did notice carpet bunching at the other regionals and nationals, it did seem to happen a lot more at IRI. The reason for this is because our carpet was only a few inches wider then the field on both sides, and longer in length for the player stations. If we would have bought this carpet this year for IRI instead of last year we probably would have made it wider on both sides so we could secure it down more...

One thing i would like to see next year would be some sort of "hard" floor similar to what u see on battlebots maybe. Maybe this floor could be bought in sections/panels and assembled w/o using any glue or nails.

Just a thought.

Flooring
 

I think it would be cool if they did change the surface. They have had carpet for a long time and they need something different. It would also be fun to see how the teams change designs to get traction on a different floor. Hopefully FIRST will keep something like that in mind when they go to create next year's game. :cool:

/me awaits the usual "we want a water playing field" response...

I vote for gravel or some sort of rougher surface.

Flooring
 

Sand would be very challenging. It would also be very hard on your robot, but challenging to see how the teams react to that.

i think the best idea is either concrete (kinda hard though), or some sort of interlocking boards that just plop down and sit there. basically, any kind of hard surface that is more or less impossible to damage. the other idea would be sand/gravel, but many places would not like that, so i doubt that would happen.

I want to see a really slick field, as slick as ice... That should make pushing matches interesting.

Maybe just dump vegtible oil on the gym floors in between matches ;). Hey, it sounds good in my mind.

-Andy A.

Flooring
 

Wild/Unrealistic...but Fun Idea: Robots that jump into a vat of jello or water and have to pick up obstacles!

Realistic: Climbing stairs!

Re: Flooring
 

question... What is a vat? climbing stairs would be interresting. lots of damage could result...

Libby Ritchie, if the robots do climb stairs well, maybe you should take lessons from them. So the next time you go to Dean Kamen's house you won't fall. :D

you don't want anything loose like sand not even rugged bots like battlebots cant handle sand btw stars are pretty easy to traverse with tracks

Rubber Mulch
 

That's right...rubber mulch. It's commonly used for playgrounds...all it's composed of is shredded tires...

I can't really seem it being easy to design something for, but was corn in 1992 easily available for everyone to design a robot to drive on?


http://www.homestead.com/prosites-cl...aygrounds.html




Also there is this...
Interlocking Rubber Flooring

If they used this they could do something cool with the color flooring like making their logo on the playing field. :)

tracks would probably be best for that kinda surface. I think that would be pretty fun to watch.

Hey, thanks for sharing my stupidity with the WORLD, Caleb! I saw a Segway....it's not my fault that my feet couldnt' go as fast as my mind was!

I want Interlocking rubber tile. This stuff is common in weight rooms and gyms.
This allows parts to be replaced if need be, and also allows some room for stress relef.


My other great idea is the carpet, but covered with ducktape.
Is that brilliant or what?
:D


Wetzel
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/me is listening to
E:\Jack off Jill\Clear Hearts Grey Flowers\Jack Off Jill - 02 - Fear of Dying.mp3