Chief Delphi - new balls vs. old used up balls

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Toth

Our robot has a a softball shooter, and we have no problem shooting our torn up balls. We have our wheels set to 5 inches so that the shooter wheels can compress the ball and launch it out. Since its being compressed, small holes or rips is no problem. The ball that we got in the kit now looks like the moon. There are are giant craters in it (I mean 1 inch deep) and there is no covering on the ball at all, and our shooter still spits it out like the day we got it.

I'd like to remind everyone of this

Quote:

Originally Posted by GDC

Teams should expect that the balls will be scuffed, scraped and have minor imperfections in the outer skin of the ball, however, if your shooting mechanism tears off large chunks of the skin or clearly abrades the skin, it will not be allowed. Balls will be inadvertently damaged as a result of robot interaction other than shooting.

Could this be another "must shield the shooter" revalation? It's gonna be interesting to see how certain things are called during the week 1 regionals. I hope at least one is webcast.