[BenDSterling]

As someone who was a part of the planning for Columbus, let's talk about that venue. The ice is always the bottom layer. They don't remove it for events. On top of the ice was a layer of thin plastic, then plywood, then another layer of thin plastic, then the AstroTurf. The venue would not remove the AstroTurf for our event. I do not recall exactly why they wouldn't remove it, but either way it wasn't our decision.

AstroTurf makes an awful floor for the pits. The little plastic beads would have gotten into every part of the robots and good luck pushing carts on it. So because of this, Georgia FIRST bought all the carpet to go ontop of the AstroTurf. Everyone saw that this ground would be bouncy, it was just something we would have to live with. (In fact some peoples saw it as a good thing, the lost robot parts bin at Columbus was almost empty). Now this season we are using a different Columbus venue. This seasons venue is almost identical to KSU.

Now as for KSU and the plywood floor. KSU refused to remove the basketball court floor. They also required us to protect the floor from damage (the thin plastic cover they usually use wouldn't be enough protection). So, Georgia FIRST went out and bought all the plywood to cover the basketball court. This wasn't really ideal, but also wasn't really our decision.