new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Ok we just found out that there is a slight difference between the new ball and the old ball (not that the old ball looks more ugly then the new ones) that makes it difficult to shoot from far distances. we found out that using the new balls that it would go completely over the goal...really over. I'm just wondering if any other teams found out about this.
and plz tell us how u figure out how to compensate for the new balls with the old balls. but this really depends on what kind of shooter u have.
man good thing we caught this semi-early. :( :o

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

You mean your robot doesn't have spherical scoring object wear compensation? I thought it was included in the kit. :D

Jokes aside, it is just a fact of life, without any great way to deal with it (just like the hard spot on the ball).

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

You are talking about the poof balls right? :ahh: :ahh: :ahh:
JK JK...

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

We saved the majority of our poof balls until we had the shooter pretty much complete - we'll use the brand-new balls to calibrate the machine, and if we get an old one in gameplay we'll adjust accordingly (or just miss). We found similar results - the one ball we beat the snot out of travels about 2/3 the distance of one fresh out of the wrapper. Fortunately, the accuracy remains pretty consistent - the difference is in range.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

As someone else said, "it's part of the game challenge" :)

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

I'm sure the field supervisor and field setters will replace the balls that are worn or when the surface starts to disintegrate.

Or install a SSOWC (spherical scoring object wear compensator).
;)

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

go not having to deal with it becuase we don't have a shooter!!! but seriously, try lowering the speed of the shooter's motor

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

The velocity of the shooter doesn't matter the ball's still don't work as well been trying to compensate for this but it has not worked all that well. I think that the competetionn will use new ball anyway though. but if not :ahh:

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Hmm...we have balls that barely resemble balls anymore, and there's no real change in accuracy or range.

However, we have found that balls that have already started to tear (from our prototypes) spit confetti, while new balls barely have any marks on them.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

boiler is right we hid the balls because the freshmen like to throw them and destroy them with tools... we have one example of a torn up ball

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Everyone is worrying about beat up balls and shooting. Even more concerning is the way old balls compress and bind more readily in the conveyance mech. Many teams may find they can move new balls around Only to find old ones jam putting their shooter out of commission. Test, test, test.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

OK, how our team is dealing with this is as follows:

We are changing the distance of the ball be varying the speed of the launching wheel, so we can have the angle that we launch the ball be adjustable (not actuated mind you; Manually adjustable) .Since all of the balls will wear at a pretty much steady rate (with a few acceptions), we can change the angle of the shooter as the competition goes on, thus changing the arc it sends the torn up balls in, and avoiding any complexed compensation programming.

That is, if it is even necessary :) So far we have noticed pretty much no difference between old and new balls.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

is there a new kind of balls out or are you talking about the same balls we got with the kit, only brand new from the factory?

since our team is in Israel we can't order more balls and we have only the one we got with kit (and it's starting to desinegrate), we are kinda hoping the few hours at the regionals before the matches will be enough time to fix everything, either that or everyone will miss a lot (except for bots that go for corner goals =)

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Ours aren't even that worn down yet D:

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

the entire first day should be the practice matches, so you'll have an entire day to work out problems! good luck!

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

ok to make this more clear...our shooter makes it so that the balls are compressed to have more energy to fire it. the new balls are a lot firmer thus making it harder to compress then the way the old (semi-shreaded) balls do. in shorter terms...the new balls make it harder to shoot like the old balls.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

I think most shooters are gonna do the same, I still didn't get an answer though
when you say NEW balls are you refering to a a diffrent model? or simply NEW as in production date?

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

New as in it hasn't been used much if at all.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

new balls as in the ones that weren't shot yet through our shooter.
the nice shiney ones!

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Wow, this makes me glad that we (arbitrarily) decided to use a shooter design that doesn't depend on compression to give the balls velocity. It's a good thing they didn't listen to me.....

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Someone want to do me a favor a post a pic of torn up balls and new ones? I would like to say all of our balls are damage free, but how much is enough damage to change the course of the ball? My concern is our freshmen play with the balls day in and day out and i want to know if that's enough to alter their accuracy.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

lucky for us we dont have to worry about the balls... :D

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck... How are we supposed to score points we don't worry about the balls. Just because we aren't launching them in the air doesn't mean we can just forget about them...

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

The difference between new and used balls is not just in appearance....the big thing that makes a difference would be the "squishiness" of the ball.

The new ones can't get compressed a lot and the old ones can get compressed a lot.

If you want to get a nice pop try shooting a ball with the plastic on(brand new). :p

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

we'll fix it in programing HAHAHAHAHA!

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

I want to chime in on this thread and say our shooter has nearly devoured our 10 balls during build season, and those balls are very furry and sticky. They get jammed and they shoot horribly. If we stick new balls in the bot they never get stuck and they shoot incredibly accurate. I hope they have lots of spares at the comps :D

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

well with our robot we have speed control on our shooter and have been training our operator with it so we can use old, worn balls(which is basically all we have) with little to no problem. I know the idea of speed control for those of u that dont have it might be a little late but u never no, just throw POT up there. :D

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

I have witnessed the described carnage and boy is it fun :p . At the scrimmage our (throwing into high goals - catapult style) bot took their confetti balls quite nicely. No problems if anyone out there used anything besides softball pitcher wheel style... (if anyone has please let me know, I want to hear about this!).

We actually had a slightly harder time throwing the fresh balls as they tended to stick on the track while the ones missing the rubber coating slid through easy. Not a huge diffrence, but enough to give it 1 MPH-ish more speed.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

That brings up the interesting question of whether or not teams will be penalized for destroying balls. I'm sure that once a ball begins to obstruct game play, a FIRST official will switch in a new ball. Refering to my previous question, how would the refs know which robot killed which ball?

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

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.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

I'd like to remind everyone of this

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.

Re: new balls vs. old used up balls
 

this is what out bals look like after build season, they shoot Horibly inaccurate and stick to everything and get jammed in the wierdist places