Game Hints?

[Ryan Foley]

Like Jay said, dry ice would probably mean something about field surface. Low traction, like ice, but dry. Maybe there's more HDPE this year, hehe.

I still say that hovercraft goals or something would be awesome.

[team222badbrad]

Didnt you all hear that they tore the carpet off all the 1999 Robot Pucks and replaced them with HDPE?

Yeah this one is gonna be TUFF!

[danielkitchener]

what if the entire field is HDPE??? or at least a good part of it...it's like ice, but dry...thus, "dry ice". Conveyor belts would add a nice twist to the field as well. For practical reasons, I don't think a water hazard or real dry ice is going to happen. Perhaps smoke machines providing a fog over certain areas would be a nice obstacle. However, with most competitions being indoors, I don't see this as too likely. However, autonomous at the end seems almost a certainty, with how evil FIRST is. Just kidding, but I dread this as a programmer...

[sanddrag]

On the Christmas House episode of Monster House ont he Discovery Channel, they had this really hard smooth plastic that they put on the floor to use as a skating rink. They said it is used in places where it isn't cold enough to keep a rink. They actually showed someone skating on it. But they did mention is was very expensive.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

On the Christmas House episode of Monster House ont he Discovery Channel, they had this really hard smooth plastic that they put on the floor to use as a skating rink. They said it is used in places where it isn't cold enough to keep a rink. They actually showed someone skating on it. But they did mention is was very expensive.

Correct this materal does replicate the COF of Ice with out needing to keep it around 32 degrees F. It is made to resist scratching, knicking and etching from blades on a skate so i expect that material would resist damage from our robots. But unlike the "plastic ice", the HDPE we used last year in the games did sustain damage from the robots. Thus thats one reasoning i think that if there was a plastic that represents ice used this year think it would be HDPE once again due to the low cost. Also I think that Teflon or nylon blocks could be used, due to their extremly low COF with metals. But the material that was used in "Viva La Bam" and "Monster House" i think could be used in the games but would be extremly surprised if it was used do to the extreme cost and weight that it has.
~Mike

P.S.~ Check out my thread labled Could the field be Ice? for more info...

[David Kelly]

Originally Posted by dez250

Correct this materal does replicate the COF of Ice with out needing to keep it around 32 degrees F. It is made to resist scratching, knicking and etching from blades on a skate so i expect that material would resist damage from our robots. But unlike the "plastic ice", the HDPE we used last year in the games did sustain damage from the robots. Thus thats one reasoning i think that if there was a plastic that represents ice used this year think it would be HDPE once again due to the low cost. Also I think that Teflon or nylon blocks could be used, due to their extremly low COF with metals. But the material that was used in "Viva La Bam" and "Monster House" i think could be used in the games but would be extremly surprised if it was used do to the extreme cost and weight that it has.
~Mike

P.S.~ Check out my thread labled "What could the fields be" that i am writing now.

HDPE is not cheap. Its quite expensive and I believe that last year we spent a few hundred dollars purchasing it. THat was why a lot of teams complained about the field last year and how expensive it was. Lots of other teams used alternative plastics because of the cost.

That fake ice may be "expensive" but HDPE is not cheap either.

[dez250]

Originally Posted by David Kelly

HDPE is not cheap. Its quite expensive and I believe that last year we spent a few hundred dollars purchasing it. THat was why a lot of teams complained about the field last year and how expensive it was. Lots of other teams used alternative plastics because of the cost.

That fake ice may be "expensive" but HDPE is not cheap either.

I know HDPE is not that cheap and neither is solid Nylon or Teflon, but from the link that was supplied earlier, it is cheaper then this "Replica" Ice.

[tenfour]

Lets think logically....

The ice is out since its dangerous and hard to ship.

They won't cover the field with hdpe because of the cost and nature of setup.

As the the coef. of dynamic friction of dry ice, that could just refer to a surface with hard friction. I predict that we will have objects that will require complex manipulation (and will give a great number of points.)

I just hope that FIRST didn't listen to the people that said that robots this year were "too powerful."

[dez250]

Originally Posted by tenfour

Lets think logically....

The ice is out since its dangerous and hard to ship.

They won't cover the field with hdpe because of the cost and nature of setup.

As the the coef. of dynamic friction of dry ice, that could just refer to a surface with hard friction. I predict that we will have objects that will require complex manipulation (and will give a great number of points.)

I just hope that FIRST didn't listen to the panzies that said that robots this year were "too powerful."

I would reccomend you to double think the words that you decide to use here.
~Mike

[Andy Baker]

I heard this same "dry ice Rumor". It floated all the way back to Indiana.

Seems like smoke and mirrors to me... or could it be true?

Andy B.

[Marygrace]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

...maybe it's just a field covered in fog or something neat like that.

That would be so awesome!

[JAH]

A field covered in fog seems like a long shot to me. A large part of the competition is watching other robots compete, along with your own. If the field was covered in fog, it would make it not only difficult for the drivers(which would be the reason for the fog, a bit more of a challenge) but the spectators wouldn't be able to see the action as easily. Fog would be cool...but, as it has happened at our school, if you put out too much fog(they were doing it for play practice), you can set off the fire alarms. That all would be neat though.

[SaxMan701]

Smoke and mirrors, Andy? Going back to the fog covered field, and remembering that it is FIRST we're talking about, you never know about smoke and mirrors, literally.

[Chris Fultz]

Smoke and morrors and the refs and the audience get special night vision goggles so they can see what is going on -

[maxgebhardt]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

Smoke and morrors and the refs and the audience get special night vision goggles so they can see what is going on -

That would rock, I want night vision goggles!