Varying conditions of the balls

[Ben Martin]

Originally Posted by BrendanB

Simon we have the exact same problem. Older balls will be a swish shot while the new ones go flying over the backboard. We numbered each ball and sent shot each ball several times and got the same results for each ball.

This can get extremely interesting seeing that by the end of build season our balls will be well worn whereas at competition they will be brand new!

We also numbered the balls in our lab. Each ball has a different level of "squish" when tested with a 12-pound weight and a different diameter. Each ball generally shoots consistently itself, though when compared against other balls the shots are significantly less consistent.

We did manage to get our shooter up to 85%-ish shooting layups off the backboard using a one-wheel shooter from close range.

[Grim Tuesday]

So now that we have confirmed the problem, lets start brainstorming solutions. My first thought was some sort of lead screw pushing into the ball until a pressure sensor read a certain force, and recording the number of inches of squish. Of course, this is really slow and inconvenient. Anyone else have any ideas? Could we pre-mash up a ball and get it ready to shoot and be consistent?

The other questions to ask are: What curve is there in the squish? Is there a point where balls move from 'hard' to 'squishy'? Or is it some sort of curve, or linear progression?

[Garrett.d.w]

Has anyone tried putting their intake rollers (if that is your chosen method), on springs and measuring deflection as the balls get sucked in?