pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Those seem to be about twice as big as the ones in Bayou. Glad to see FIRST is improving on consistency across regionals....

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

That top triangle looks like it could explode at any second.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Wow, I wish FIRST would have some visual control in this!

Speaking of Seattle, any ideas if there is a webcast? I really want to see/cheer on team 3126 from Hollis, NH!

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

there is a webcast it's at firstwa.org

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

firstwa.org should have the webcast.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

FIRST does have some control, specifically the templates they send with every field. If the tubes are inflated to the template, they will at the very least be consistent.

At WPI, we inflated them until the tube touched both sides of the template, then stopped.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

The problem is that the instructions/method for using the template doesn't seem to be consistent across events. I have heard a number of reports from multiple regionals, both on CD and from other contacts of tubes being inflated outside the template and then jammed into the template to prove compliance.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Thanks guys!

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Yup this is pretty ridiculous, not really a big deal depending on design choices tho

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Was the tube size template ever specified in the rules? Gosh, when we were designing our mechanism, the corners of the triangle did not look gigantic like that, and the tube still seemed adequately inflated. Why the need to really fill it so much?

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

My friend from BC, an alumnus of Trobotics (is Jason here? :P) was talking about how the Cascade Regional webcast is far louder than the Olympic Regional webcast. In the pits, Cascade music definitely drowns out Olympic music.

About the tubes--
For our practices matches, we've had to make judgment calls during the queue for Olympic because of the discrepancies in tube sizes. We have a strand of latex tubing across our gripper to more easily account for different sized tubes, and we change the tension based on how inflated the tubes are from the queuing line.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

The device was not spelled out, but the spec was:
As I recall, the triangles use the 7" guage, and the square and circle use the 8" guage. The way the triangle is made causes it to bulge up at the corners. The square does so as well, but not as much.

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

These tubes are easily 20% larger than the tubes in Florida (but still smaller than the tubes I saw in NJ).

I have it on good authority (from just asking refs and FTAs) that the field manual is pretty sparse on details as to HOW to use the gauge (blow up UNTIL the tube fits vs. blow up and FORCE the tube to fit vs. blow it up all the way and hey, it still fits!).

With a compliant object like an inflated inner tube, I have no doubt that a triangle on the verge of bursting could still fit into a 7" gauge...

Re: pic: Seattle Cascade tubes.
 

Jared, weren't the FTA's in week one Jamming the tubes into the Gauge..?

What bothers me most about over inflated tubes is that they don't fit through the feeder slot in some cases. If the tube doesn't fit through the slot then don't you think someone would realize that it's too big....?

(Also, you know there is a problem when someone who has never been exposed to Logomotion (My Boss/Our Sponsor) can tell that the tube sizes vary a lot more than they should.)