Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

The bumps on the "regolith" make less of the surface area of the wheel contact it at once which decreases traction even more. It's not bad to walk on beause shoes are made of soft rubber, but we got a sheet of an almost identical product from Home Depot and it was unbelievable how little traction there was between it and the wheel. We couldn't find anything else that had such little traction paired with the wheel, the closest was some sort of hard granite looking tiling used in the cafeteria of my school which we may end up using as a practice area if we don't buy lots more of the plastic/fiberglass surface.

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

The field wasn't slippery for walking on with the (dry) Vans sneakers I was wearing at Kickoff in Manchester for the official playing field, so I don't expect it to be an issue as long as you're not wearing high-heels to carry your robot on the field.

HOWEVER, be advised that when we went to pickup the kits, they had a sample of the field in FIRST HQ, and while my sneakers were the same, the snow we tracked inside made it MODERATELY slippery inside there on them material.

Bottom line is, as long as the field stays dry, & no one spills some soda or water on part of the field (or ruptures a compressor hose, and/or leaks some gear oil on the field) then it SHOULD be ok to walk on from a team member's standpoint most of the time.

Be cautions anyways, & always plan for safety first!

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

Yeah my shoes were wet too. In order to see the field at kick off we needed, and living in WI, there is always snow and wet outside. I could tell that the slip was because of the mass amounts of wet shoes on the field, not the field itself.

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

In checking out this product with the manufacturer there seems to be two types of Glasteel paneling, one with a smooth coat the other which can be bought at Home Depot (Glasteel wall liner panel sku #88594 49018) has a textured surface. Does anyone know which of these might be the right one.l

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

Yeah, i would have to agree with everyone else, that the "regolith" is basically a thematic name for the playing surface and it is basically ice. And yes ice saters do use it in the off-season to practice on becuase it is so slippery that it is an all around useful material, especially for this game.:D

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

Call me a necro for reviving a thread but I am looking through websites for teh coefficent of friction and its not adding up. Can anyone help me? I could just use a little.

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

SAVE SOME FOR US :) TEAM 2471, Camas, WA
Product Description:
Structoglas Class A fiberglass reinforced plastic (frp) wall
panels are durable, semi-rigid, and will not mold, mildew,
rot, rust, corrode, stain, dent, peel, or splinter. Panels
exhibit a high strength-to-weight ratio with
expansion/contraction values similar to aluminum

Distributor should be selected carefully for the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). There are manufacturer FRP variations in this product and large price variances. If you buy a sheet from one vendor it may look different than product from another. So, buy all from one place.

Additionally, consider how will this material be stabilized on the substrate? In other words keep it from sliding all over the floor, especially with multiple sheets.

Compatible products are important choices for rapid protyping. Not sure if First uses Class Aor C. Product comes in smooth and texturized. Sample at kick off was texturized so I trust them to show us the correct thing.

Attached is a link to compatible product spec sheet in pdf format
http://www.cranecomposites.com/PDFs/2505_struc_tech.pdf

There are many Vendors selling this product locally. I suggest buying here.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...096&lpage=none

Sequentia
Fiberglass Reinforced Wall Panel

Item #: 8566 Model: 77096
4 x 8
Resin rich textured surface resists mold and mildew

Gencom Procurement Specialist

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

Well, I imagine drive teams will probably just slide their robots over to the gates this year, instead of wasting energy carrying it. We're goin' to the moon, it's all about efficiency (minus the millions of gallons of Kerosene and LOX we had to burn to get there)!

In all seriousness though, like Elgin said, this stuff isn't slippery to the sneakered foot.

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

I just hope we don't see any drive team members, referees, emcees, or other volunteers wearing acetal-soled shoes this year. On second thought, maybe acetal soles would be appropriate for some emcees. :rolleyes:

Re: Tell me more about the regolith coating.
 

Alright, now Richard, just because you are spending all of your time sliding around on the highways between Missouri and Michigan, doesn't mean we have to make our emcees into hockey pucks as well!;)