Ball Bounces Lands on Top of the Truss

[bkahl]

I know one of the first things many people thought of this year in the first week was "What if the ball lands on the truss". The rules were even updated to give a solution to this problem. Personally, I thought this would NEVER happen. I don't know if it has happened yet this year, but it did this weekend In Finals 3 of Southington, 195 went for a shot, but it went high and bounced back on to the field. It hit right about at the white line then found it's way onto the truss. It took the refs a few seconds (although it seemed like it was much longer from behind the glass) to shake it off, it seemed like the ball just didn't want to come off. The video below is from behind the glass. Although somewhat blocked by the drivers, you can see the ball land on the truss. A better video will be available soon.

http://youtu.be/Qk4oPTdtlbQ

Will this ever happen again? We have just a few weeks left to find out.

[Nathan Rossi]

This happened at the Arizona Regional as well. Although, I don't remember which match it was.

[Christopher149]

107??? managed it at Escanaba.

[IronicDeadBird]

They should just switch to a ball caught on the truss if done "un-intentionally' should be called as a rematch if the ball can't be dislodged in x amount of time by field staff.

[page2067]

They should have not had a flat top to the top of the truss! but was an entertaining point of day, and did not affect outcome.

[bkahl]

A simple polycarb covering like the high goals would fix this too.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by bkahl

A simple polycarb covering like the high goals would fix this too.

Yeah, except...

[orangemoore]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

Yeah, except...

A ball stuck on the panel but scored is better because the cycle can then start.

[Mrcope9]

We had one match back at Arkansas where our robot launched the ball, it hit the top of the truss and rolled across nearly the entire distance of it before falling off. We watched as it slowly rolled and nearly stopped, but it had just enough gas to make it off. Pretty exciting.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by orangemoore

A ball stuck on the panel but scored is better because the cycle can then start.

Of course. Having the reset crew fixing something outside the course is 9 million times better than anything on-field, but it still was quite comical, especially considering the purpose those panels were supposed to serve

[Botwoon]

Originally Posted by orangemoore

A ball stuck on the panel but scored is better because the cycle can then start.

It could definitely cause a ball to bounce back onto the field after entering the goal, however. That panel should really be angled back to prevent this sort of thing from happening. The truss itself should probably have been made with a triangular cross section to prevent stuck balls there as well.

I also feel that the field should really have been netted as was done last year. The fact that an alliance's single game piece can inadvertently be ejected from play, and that returning the ball to play sometimes requires 3+ people seriously disrupts the flow of the game. FIRST really dropped the ball (failed to drop it?) in terms of field design.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Botwoon

I also feel that the field should really have been netted as was done last year.

The entire netting system and the support poles would be knocked down by a ball going into it.

[Dan_Karol]

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

Of course. Having the reset crew fixing something outside the course is 9 million times better than anything on-field, but it still was quite comical, especially considering the purpose those panels were supposed to serve

Those panels were there to stop balls from re-entering play after scored. they have nothing to do with causing them to continue through the goal.

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by Nathan Rossi

This happened at the Arizona Regional as well. Although, I don't remember which match it was.

I remember that one. The head ref was so busy watching what was going on at a different part of the field and didn't see the ball perched above him. One of the volunteers had to get his attention so he could start shaking his end of the truss. I got a chuckle out of that.
Oh the ball landed on the scoring side of the truss so the alliance got the ten points. If the alliance had their wits about them they should have placed a robot or two underneath it ready to catch it when it got shaken loose.

[hardcopi]

Happened at Escanaba and again at Boilermaker. Both times the refs nearly shook the thing apart getting it off there. Neither really ended up affecting the outcome of a match though, was more funny than anything.