Finally the year?

[Arefin Bari]

I had the chance to look at team 116's electrical box, it was put together VERY nicely. I am sure there is a way we can prevent water from going inside an electrical box if it is sealed everywhere. Yes there are a lot of problems that will pop up solving the problem, but thats the reason we do engineering for. Apparanty... we can take a look at some underwater vehicle and see how they run their wires.

Its easier to solve a problem when you have a positive attitude about it.

[Conor Ryan]

Ok, if there is going to be the much anticipated underwater competition I think 2 things would happen.

1.) MAJOR Kit changes, I'd say the major parts that are used will change completely, an example being the Motors, Transmission (no more steel gears) Controller, all will change because of water proofing/leakage potential.

2.) Possible removal of the human player. I work with batteries as a job and Moisture=Awful and Batteries (even non-spillable and sealed) risk the chance of being exposed to water, and thus shorting out and sending a 12 volt current through Little Johnny the HP's body.

[mechanicalbrain]

okay think about FIRSTs rules. our team was penalized for not touching those triangles your robot is supposed to rest on even though it was completely on top of it! aparently it was a safety issue (i remind you our robot was COMPLETELY over top of the traingle). now lets think what possible problem would FIRST have with sticking 12 volt batteries in water. although their are plenty of educational programs that do just this and it is possible i just don't see FIRST letting us do it (not that we cant or that it couldnt be safe).

[Cory]

A six pack of dew to the first taker says there won't be any water, or liquid used as a game "component" next year.

[mechanicalbrain]

i beat you to the punch cory! look above you.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

I had the chance to look at team 116's electrical box, it was put together VERY nicely. I am sure there is a way we can prevent water from going inside an electrical box if it is sealed everywhere. Yes there are a lot of problems that will pop up solving the problem, but thats the reason we do engineering for. Apparanty... we can take a look at some underwater vehicle and see how they run their wires.

Its easier to solve a problem when you have a positive attitude about it.

FIRST wouldn't let teams use the old, non garbage connectors for the battery leads, because a few teams couldn't use them properly, causing a safety hazard, so I don't see a snowball's chance in hell of introducing water to electronics, where a lot more than a few teams will screw up big time, ruining thousands of dollars worth of electronics, and creating very big safety risks.

No matter what FIRST does to ensure safety at a competition, the potential for disaster is unimagineably large when teams are unsupervised at their own facilities.

[mechanicalbrain]

Cory i know Ive said this before. feel free to criticize and yes you mentioned valid points but please at least try to be helpful with the advice. try to add something positive to a post. as to the robotics using water yes it could be done safely but FIRST would probably worry a bit. i highly recommend you experiment with this although safely as it would be VERY cool to see a underwater robot using FIRST parts. i think my main concern would be the motors unless you can protect them i recommend putting them inside any electrical box and then running flexible shafts out to the actual box.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Here's my take on the subject:

There is no harm in giving a team the opportunity to experiment with liquid substances. There are a million and one engineering careers out there, and a lot of them deal with water because the underwater ecological system as well as the change in planetary structure (e.g., things that cause ocean earthquakes) are important issues.

I personally think Dave was introducing his team to the concept as a matter of introducing and inspiring them to take interest in a possible career.

However, I agree with Cory. There are an incredible amount of safety risks, as well as an incredible amount of competition setup logistics. What happens if something goes wrong? Flood the stadium?

[mechanicalbrain]

We could have competitions at a pool!

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Eugenia Gabrielov

Here's my take on the subject:

There is no harm in giving a team the opportunity to experiment with liquid substances. There are a million and one engineering careers out there, and a lot of them deal with water because the underwater ecological system as well as the change in planetary structure (e.g., things that cause ocean earthquakes) are important issues.

I personally think Dave was introducing his team to the concept as a matter of introducing and inspiring them to take interest in a possible career.

However, I agree with Cory. There are an incredible amount of safety risks, as well as an incredible amount of competition setup logistics. What happens if something goes wrong? Flood the stadium?

Nobody said that the game had to involve pools of water, just WATER. What if the game had a sort of simulated rain the the middle of the field, and a simple porus ground allowed for the water to be stored underneight the field?

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I like JosephM's idea, of a porus surface or a stimulated rain. However, I'm still a bit concerned about the risks that come with that.

Does anybody know if certain facilities don't permit the use of water? Also, I am under the impression that there are large regions in the US with water restrictions (correct me if I'm wrong). Would there be issues with this or would FIRST transport water from place to place?

[Collin Fultz]

since this has turned from somebody joking about the indiana weather being, well, indiana weather, into a debate

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ht=water+games

89 posts...see if your view has already been said.

[mechanicalbrain]

oh the hilarity of life. how about this hovercraft robots. i know its got bad steering but god it would be fun.

[sanddrag]

FIRST should give us a water game just because you all want it so bad every year and then when it is over they can have fun laughing at a pile of shorted out robots. Then I don't think we'd have the water game thread every year again.

[mechanicalbrain]

i don't know even if FIRST wont let it because of the danger i think most of the teams could do it. i hear allot of people talking about shorting robots but its easier than it seems. i saw a robot built by a 11 year old inside a plastic soda bottle. admittedly it had no control board an turned by flipping switches. the only way it would short is it water came in contact with one of the electric components.