Question of the Week!!! (7/26/04)

[Andy Grady]

Hi everyone! Thanks for the wonderful replies to last weeks question. Here we go for this week!

Question of the Week (7/26/04):

If you could choose a playingfield surface other than carpet, what would you like it to be? Why?

As always, you can suggest any questions to me by contacting me through PM, e-mail (skrach42@aol.com), or AIM (QuietRiverRage1).

Have Fun!
-Andy Grady

[Beth Sweet]

I know it's completely implausible, but I'd love to see a game on ice. It would just be cool and present a new challenge. Or maybe (warning, another crazy thing from my mind) a surface like they have on air hockey tables and make it so the robot would hafta glide. I think that would be cool...

[Koko Ed]

How about shreadded cardboard?

[Joshua May]

I really think ice would be cool. It would require teams to worry alot more about traction and driving.

[Steve Howland]

dirt/soil - bots would have to build wheels with tires to prevent dirt clogging up the gears and getting in with all the electonics, and the tires would need strong traction. This would be tough to put together but would be fun to see!

[Max Lobovsky]

It would be interesting to see a combination of very different materials on the field. For example, rubber matting and the relatively polycarbonate from this year. If the game was designed properly, there could be some robots that would try to stay on one surface because they perform better on it.

[Ben Lauer]

Velcro...

Imagine the playing field with one side...the tires with the other...
The power needed...The Sound Made!!!!!!!

Positioning would conquer!

[ElfMaster]

I like the idea of a lot of different surfaces...

If I had to pick one... rocks. Lots of large rocks. That would be hard to do...

[KathieK]

I have to agree with the idea of different surfaces... I remember seeing a demo on TV for the Segway when it first came out and they showed it traversing gravel, sand, water (puddle) as well as a smooth asphalt surface.

Of course, people who help BUILD the playing fields (like my husband) will kill me for that idea!

[jpsaul7usa]

How about... um... tile or concrete? Something that every team has available to practice on... not very creative but highly practical.

If not, sand. We got plenty of that out here in Phoenix. ;p

[Franchesca]

Originally Posted by jpsaul7usa

How about... um... tile or concrete? Something that every team has available to practice on... not very creative but highly practical.

If not, sand. We got plenty of that out here in Phoenix. ;p

I have to agree ... praticality would be nice at this point ... but it would also be boring!!

So sand would be absolutely interesting ... I wonder if it makes a difference what kind of sand it is though ... because sand from different places have different textures!! But oh well, something else to think about!

I would definetly like to see what creative ideas teams would come up with in order to keep the sand from blowing up into everything!!

[Max Lobovsky]

Originally Posted by ElfMaster

I like the idea of a lot of different surfaces...

If I had to pick one... rocks. Lots of large rocks. That would be hard to do...

Many times on these forums people have suggested using some sort of very tough, not smoothe surface. I agree that it would make constructing the robot much more of a challenge, but I think it will never happen because it puts most kinds of autonomous modes out of the reach of all but the most advanced teams. Look how many teams had trouble this year on carpet with a field of exactly known dimensions...

[Steve W]

Originally Posted by Joshua May

I really think ice would be cool. It would require teams to worry alot more about traction and driving.

Very Punny.

[Ali Ahmed]

I think a field with different type of sufaces is cool. Like this past season and 2003. maybe with two extremes like ice and then rubber or something like that. But I think that carpet is too old.

[Stephen Kowski]

frankly i like the practical choice of concrete.....i liked that grating in 2003....i also like the fact that the surface changed from the carpet to the grating.....