[BB] The wooden beams have started creaking

[Scott L.]

Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary 2012
Charles Dickens 200th birthday 7 February 1812
Gustav Klimt, one of Austria's greatest ever painters, would have celebrated his 150th birthday in 2012.
Paramount's 100th Anniversary In 2012

http://www.ideas4writers.co.uk/date-a-base.htm
Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity rover are scheduled to land on Mars

just a few 2012 anniversary dates.

the Mayflowers cracked main beam was repaired using a “great iron screw,” which helped raise the beam back into place so the ship could continue.

[Ross3098]

Although the GDC must get a huge kick out of us deciphering the game hints, personally I just wish they would release one for this year already.

Thinking about what they could possibly mean is pretty fun and it helps relieve the fact that we still have more than a month before we get to know.
The season is just approaching way too slow.

[Jared Russell]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

Well, in my experience, pallets are typically 4x4, stacked ~4-5ft high.

From that, and the per-pallet weights, we could approximate material density, which could give us some insight into what materials the "game-specific" stuff is.

8000 lbs of 1/4" polycarb is 472.3m^2, assuming I did the math correctly. (based on 1.21g/cm^3).

27ft x 1m of polycarb for the alliance walls, times 2 alliances per field times 19 fields is 312.7248m^2, leaves 159.5752m^2 of polycarb.

18" x 54ft sidewalls *2, * 19 = 285.9538m^2 of polycarb. This means that its either not all 1/4" polycarb (anybody know what thickness the walls have been in past?), or I screwed up the math somewhere.

The driver station polycarbonate is at least 3/8" thick.

[Doug G]

I too worry about the heavier these "components" are, the lighter our wallets will be. I hate spending up to $1000 each year on components that just get thrown away a few months later.

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by thefro526

Back on topic, does anyone know how much Gaffers tape is on one pallet? I couldn't imagine them stacking the rolls taller than 4 feet or so... From there it'd be pretty easy to figure out how many rolls, then how many feet, then how many feet per field and so on.

I don't think theres much useful information in the tape. Often there are several rolls on hand for extra after the field is setup. You may also only use a portion of a roll, etc. With all these variables considered, I don't think you'd be able to pin down any useful information regarding tape on the field.

If we had last years # of tape rolls we would be able to infer some relationship of more/less tape as a basis of more/less lines on the field. However, we don't have that.

The amount of PC is what jumps out to me thus far.

-Brando

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Scott L.

the Mayflowers cracked main beam was repaired using a “great iron screw,” which helped raise the beam back into place so the ship could continue.

Now you've done it.

1) I remember hearing about that screw being from a printing press. We get to write our own rules and publish them--with the robots!

2) Mayflower=ship. Ships sail on the ocean, which is made of salt water. Salt Water Game!

If you can't tell, I'm not being serious right now.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley

I don't think theres much useful information in the tape. Often there are several rolls on hand for extra after the field is setup. You may also only use a portion of a roll, etc. With all these variables considered, I don't think you'd be able to pin down any useful information regarding tape on the field.

If we had last years # of tape rolls we would be able to infer some relationship of more/less tape as a basis of more/less lines on the field. However, we don't have that.

The amount of PC is what jumps out to me thus far.

-Brando

You're right, the amount of gaffers tape wouldn't tell us much, it was just something that popped into my mind.

Though, I would go out on a limb and say that 2011 used MUCH more tape than any game in recent memory, excluding breakaway?

[pandamonium]

Does anyone know how much some other games weighed in at? IE First Frenzy Raising the Bar or the ramps in 2006...It sounds like Bill is talking about something much bigger than what we have seen in the last several years...

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by Bill's Blog

This is going to be a heavy field to set up when all is said and done. Our pallet jacks can handle up to 5,000lbs in a single load and the engineering staff tell me we’ve been pushing the jacks to their limit recently. At the moment we have an estimated 8,000lbs of polycarbonate sheets, four 1,000lb pallets of game specific steel elements, a pallet of aluminum, three 1,500lb pallets of a game specific item plus a fourth 1,000lb pallet of a different game specific item, two full pallets of gaffers tape, an entire pallet of carpet tape and multiple pallets of game pieces. None of which takes into account the existing field components we will be bolting, zip tying and otherwise attaching these items onto or the elements that have not been delivered yet.

Look at Bill's choice of words.

4x 1000lb pallets of game specific steel elements
3x 1500lb pallets of a game specific item + 1x 1000lb pallet of a different game specific item.
<multiple> pallets of game pieces

That means these heavy pallets are not the game PIECES, and there's some distinction between steel elements, and 'item'-s of which there are at least 2 unique things.

Based on the numbers, the 1500lb pallets could be a team specific item, and the 1000lb pallet could be an alliance specific item, assuming the same itemcount per pallet, which I'm fully aware is a totally unfair assumption.

4000lb of game-specific steel elements is likely to be some kind of field element. 4000/19 = 210 lbs/field. Its interesting that he specified the material as steel, since in years past, most of the field components have been aluminum. I would think that this is likely one central field element (a la 2004), or possibly 2 end-zone (a la 2006 ramps) elements, based on the weight, since anything much lighter than that is likely to be easily shoved by 150lb robots.

I'm not sure what to make of the term 'item'. We've had FIELD ELEMENTS, and GAME PIECES before, but 'item' seems to imply that its not part of the FIELD, but also not a GAME PIECE, and its not a KOP part, because those are being assembled in a separate facility.

Another thought:

Originally Posted by Bill's Blog

None of which takes into account the existing field components we will be bolting, zip tying and otherwise attaching these items onto or the elements that have not been delivered yet.

Does this line mean that the 8000lbs of polycarb is NOT part of the ARENA which remains the same year-to-year (the alliance stations + the sidewalls + carpet)? If so, that could suggest up to 25m^2 of additional 1/4" polycarb on each field.

[pandamonium]

"Does this line mean that the 8000lbs of polycarb is NOT part of the ARENA which remains the same year-to-year (the alliance stations + the sidewalls + carpet)? If so, that could suggest up to 25m^2 of additional 1/4" polycarb on each field."

That is a very good catch. The reason for polycarb is that it is see through. So either the crowd can see or the drivers can see...

[Jared Russell]

Given the state of the driver station polycarb after a full season of competition (as we saw at Ramp Riot), I wouldn't be surprised if they need to replace it every year.

[1493kd]

Speaking of Manual sections, Section 4.2.2 covers robot carts. Please be sure to clearly label your robot cart with your team number. There is no defined way to do this, we just want to make sure field personnel can identify what cart belongs to which team so we can keep things flowing smoothly on the field.

This above statement seems like the biggest hint in the blog. Means that the field may be dangerous for student to enter/be part of and field crew will the the ones having to return robots. I am thinking some kind of elevated field elements.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by 1075guy

Look at Bill's choice of words.

4x 1000lb pallets of game specific steel elements
3x 1500lb pallets of a game specific item + 1x 1000lb pallet of a different game specific item.
<multiple> pallets of game pieces

That means these heavy pallets are not the game PIECES, and there's some distinction between steel elements, and 'item'-s of which there are at least 2 unique things.

Based on the numbers, the 1500lb pallets could be a team specific item, and the 1000lb pallet could be an alliance specific item, assuming the same itemcount per pallet, which I'm fully aware is a totally unfair assumption.

[...]

I'm not sure what to make of the term 'item'. We've had FIELD ELEMENTS, and GAME PIECES before, but 'item' seems to imply that its not part of the FIELD, but also not a GAME PIECE, and its not a KOP part, because those are being assembled in a separate facility.

I know you discounted it being for the KoP, and I can't argue with your logic... but there are a couple of facts that could argue that the items are part of the KoP:

• There are somewhere around 1600 FRC teams registered for a single event - or at least, there were a month ago. The number may have gone up, who knows. (http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2011...-my-inbox.html)
• A Kinect (which we know we're getting in the KoP) weighs about 3 lbs. I couldn't find stats for it by itself, but bundled with a game Amazon pegs it at 3.1 lbs (http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sensor-.../dp/B002BSA298)
• If you do the volume measurements based on the dimensions Amazon provides, 1600 Kinects could fit into 3 crates, if those crates are 4x4x8 (or maybe a bit wider and shorter). That sounds reasonable to me.

Of course, given how the paragraph is worded, it sounds like the "items" are something that stays with the field. But the coincidence here is hard to ignore!

[rsisk]

Originally Posted by Jared341

Given the state of the driver station polycarb after a full season of competition (as we saw at Ramp Riot), I wouldn't be surprised if they need to replace it every year.

I'm betting they either replace it in total, or certainly replace the most worn pieces

[rachelholladay]

Originally Posted by 1493kd

Speaking of Manual sections, Section 4.2.2 covers robot carts. Please be sure to clearly label your robot cart with your team number. There is no defined way to do this, we just want to make sure field personnel can identify what cart belongs to which team so we can keep things flowing smoothly on the field.

This above statement seems like the biggest hint in the blog. Means that the field may be dangerous for student to enter/be part of and field crew will the the ones having to return robots. I am thinking some kind of elevated field elements.

Well for field reset in the past we have had the problem that people off load their robot to the field and then leave their cart in the middle of the queing zone. Most carts do not have any team markings so the volunteers are left to ask around to find out whose cart it is. That or we move it ourselves (often, it seems, to an area that the team is unhappy about even though it was them who didnt move their car tin the first place..but enough rant) I wouldn't be surprised if a volunteer suggested this rule as common practice and FIRST decided to adopt it.