[Andy A.]

I can only hazard guesses at all the physics behind the poofs behavior when varying how compressible they are in a roller system and in flight. I can say that the ball I had stabbed and rendered squishy didn't seem to behave much differently. admittedly, our testing was using our '02 bot (you may remember it, the popcorn popper). With some modification, it was found that the roller system used to suck up soccer balls happened to shoot the poofs pretty well to. The poofs were not being compressed a great deal, but it seems they don't have to be.

From what I saw, no, squishy poofs fly about as fast as hard poofs. This may be highly dependent on how they are fired- the method used involved a track of rollers about 8 inches long, so the poofs had plenty of time to accelerate. As you said, impulse loads and sudden accelerations that a single 'tennis' ball shooter might impart could affect the poofs very differently. I've played with a single wheel shooter, but only with a single ball, so I have no good reference for that type.

I guess the only way to know is to put one of your poofs to the knife and see what happens. My gut feeling is that the longer the acceleration is, the more consistent the balls will behave. Short of mocking up all sorts of shooting mechanisms, my gut is about as far as I can go with this. John has done it, and figured out it doesn't matter. Go figure. Like I said, this is complicated!

I think FIRST may be inspiring the most accurate and largest knowledge base on the proper handling and hurling of squishy Nerf type balls. Heck, we've already got kickballs down pat.

-Andy A.

Edit- As to #32's misbehavior- I hadn't thought about the CG being a factor, but it makes some sense. I suppose it's possible that there is a dense spot in the foam. My best guess had been that the skin was somehow not homogenus and perhaps one color was grippier then the other, or perhaps the dense spot near the injection nipple is larger or harder. I really don't know. I don't have access to the balls for a while, but another member of 95 may be able to take a closer look.