pic: Fighting for the atlas ball

[Carol]

Originally Posted by cromat44

So, How was pushing the atlas ball? reliable? difficult?

With these robots, and don't forget they only had a few hours to design and build them, it was more difficult to get up on the platform than it was to push the ball. There was a couple of matches where it came down to a test of strength, with robots on opposite sides of the ball trying to push the it (and the other robot) to their side of the field.

And the ball does NOT roll in a straight line!

[Jeff K.]

Originally Posted by Carol

And the ball does NOT roll in a straight line!

Indeed the ball is pretty tricky. We found out when 2 130+ lb robots went flying into the ball, some interesting stuff tends to happen:



Ball gets under other bot and they go bouncing back

Surprisingly the ball never popped during the match. It should still be interesting on the VEX scale. lol

[Fuzzy]

Is the ball weighted in a certain part?

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Is the ball weighted in a certain part?

Assuming the Atlas ball is, in fact, the same as the 2X ball from 2004, then yes, some parts of the ball are heavier than others. I assume it's just a variation in the manufacturing process, but that's why you'd never see the 2X ball on the platform with the 2X aligned like it was on the mobile goals--you simply had to let the ball roll to its sweet spot, then center it on the platform.

(If you looked carefully on the balls in Atlanta, and perhaps elsewhere, you would see a little X on the top of where the ball would naturally rest. It really did speed the process.)

[Carol]

Yes, the ball isn't symmetrical. And surprisingly the heaviest part of the ball isn't necessarily the plug where you inflate it. If you look closely at the picture, you can see two small dots at the upper right. They are used as the "sweet spot" as Billfred said to help balance the ball on the toilet flange.