It's part of the field; it attaches via the spring pins to either the Delta field or the primary welded aluminum ones.
The pins are plenty strong enough to be used on the field.
The curve in the plastic is there for the same reason that the bolts that hold the bronze polycarbonate to the structure are recessed: they have to clear a ball without any snags. I'm guessing soccer balls, since it's been quite a few years since we've had them on the field (2002 was the last year), and unlike the Orbit balls, are easily available everywhere in the world. (Football anyone?) Plus, while past events aren't definite proof of future events, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 have all been "normal" ball years: 2010 is on track to be another ball year.
And looking around on the Internet, trying to find blue and red soccer balls is surprising hard (they're out of stock!) while all non red/blue colored soccer balls are in stock! Why would red and blue soccer balls be out of stock in the winter, while all other colors be in stock?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3540673
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3439879
Bronze polycarbonate was chosen for a specific reason other than kicks and giggles, and has to deal with either the transparency or the lighter weight of polycarbonate as opposed to aluminum. While this bracket should be able to withstand several hundred pounds of static force before it fails, I'm guessing that this bracket is somewhere not accessible to the robot, either off the field or in an area protected from full-speed rams by robots. The high tab sticking off the top, coupled with large radii around the 1/4" or 5/16" mounting holes indicate that this piece will bear some kind of significant load (the radii are used to reduce stress concentrations).
The fact that the polycarbonate is mounted onto a larger pipe is significant. While it'll most likely not move during a match, I'm guessing the outer pipe is used either as a cheap, idiot-proof spacer (washers could fall off during assembly, and are easy to loose), or to facilitate assembly of the entire structure that this model is attached to. (Think of those times on your robot when something doesn't quite line up, so you loosen everything and tighten everything down at once
).
I'm guessing this structure is the base of a soccer ball auto loader, and polycarbonate was chosen to allow teams (robots?) to more easily see if there is one last ball in the auto loader. The autoloader will hold some set number of balls (six? eight? ten? Baker's dozen? Bueler?). There might even me some release mechanism, such that like the 2004 game, they are released onto the field (or made available) at some point in the match after some condition has been met.
The bronze color of the polycarbonate is also most likely significant, as clear polycarbonate is cheaper than smoked polycarbonate.
Some facts about bronze:
Bronze color:
RGB: 205,127,50
Hex: #CD7F32
Bronze is the most popular medal for cast metal statues.
Bronze Star Medal. Possible connection to cooperition?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Wikipedia
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the ninth highest military award (including both combat and non-combat awards) in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations. Officers from the other federal uniformed services are also eligible to receive the award if they are militarized or detailed to serve with a service branch of the armed forces.
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Bronze is also a breed of domestic turkey.
Bronze is also traditionally given to the third place recipient. Possible third alliance?
Edit: 2228th post
