Turbulence

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by Tatsu

buts its not graciously professional. so we're not doing it..
if anyone wants to try it, I'm definately willing to lend a hand ..

I don't see why it's not gracious professionalism. I mean maybe it's just my interpretation but I don't think that just because you exhibit gracious professionalism why you can't be super competitive, or take advantage of a field element.

In 2004 team KillerBees had a brilliant autonomous mode idea. They did a drive by on the autonomous balls that did a early release of all those balls they stored over the player stations. Their robot continued to the end of the Field and then as soon as manual mode started they sucked up your balls and carried them off, leaving you at a distinct disadvantage. It wasn't ungracious and it wasn't unprofessional, It was smart. I say if you see a niche that can be filled and gives you an advantage without violating the rules or stopping others from enjoying FIRST then go for it! It's actually not too different then parking your robot in front of the lower goals to prevent people from scoring. Try telling teams they can't block balls because it's not fair, your going to see a lot of it anyway and why not? It's smart and makes sense.

On a more technical view, I'm not sure how well it would work. One thing to consider is that the air will dissipate pretty quickly. I mean I can't remember seeing a leaf blower with more then 10 ft of range (though we do have stronger motors). Also leafs are pretty light, will it have enough force to move a ball? how about move a ball traveling at a high velocity? I recomend using more like a cannon in that you aim it slightly at a angle to slow the ball and displace the balls trajectory. I'm going to take a look at the inside of my leaf blower to see if it's gears could handle our motor's.