Punctured Atlas Ball
 

Has anybody punctured an Atlas Ball yet? We did today we didn't even put that much force on it. After examining our robot we believe it may have been caused by a jagged edge or a corner on our drive train. Also we noticed that the atlas ball lining is quite thin I'm guessing about 1/16" if not less.

Re: Punctured Atlas Ball
 

My rookie year as a lead robot inspector for FRC was 2004; the atlas ball was used in that year's game (FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar) as a point multiplier goal capper. That was the year I became fanatical about the "no sharp edges" rule during robot inspections. Blood on the 'bot is bad, blood on the field is worse. And likewise, delay of game due to a punctured gamepiece will definitely lead to a mandatory reinspection. It happened, more than once.

I'll be the lead robot inspector at the St. Louis FVC Championship Tournament, the weekend after next. We will be looking for those sharp edges. There will be spare atlas balls on hand, but let's make sure we don't need them. :)

Re: Punctured Atlas Ball
 

One got popped in Farmville, VA during the Virginia Championship elimination rounds.

Re: Punctured Atlas Ball
 

We had a punctured ball at the Glendale (CA) Vex event. As one of the refs we considered briefly penalizing the team that punctured the ball. But a) the portion of the robot that pierced the ball was not particularly sharp (normal VEX edges), and b) the team that punctured the ball had it pushed into them, so it wasn't intentional. So we let it go with a warning.

So it can happen even if you don't intend it.

Re: Punctured Atlas Ball
 

In the very last match (Finals 3). Ironic how it lasted that long, only to get popped in the finals!