Wrong Size Trackball in KoP -- Rookie Team

[cjtenny]

Hey all, hello from rookie team #2349. Our first CD post! We worked on 97, though, last year, and the DIY Segway this summer, so we've had some experience.

Anyway, we did a KoP runthrough to make sure we had no mising parts and filed our report on Tuesday for 2 parts. However, we couldn't inflate the Trackball as we didn't have the right pump setup there. Today, we were able to, and found out that ours is far less than 40" in diameter.

Anybody else have this problem?
What should we do? Too late for a missing parts request (and we already did one), and we can't order extra trackballs anywhere yet.

--Cam

[Tristan Lall]

First, are you absolutely sure that the ball is the wrong one? (You probably are, but you might as well be absolutely certain.) And are both the bladder and the shell undersize, or just one?

Check in with FIRST at frcteams@usfirst.org, to make them aware of the issue. They might be able to add it to your missing parts request, as a courtesy, and if anyone knows where to buy the balls, it's them.

Also, if you know of any other teams in the area, consider asking them to borrow the ball for testing. (FIRST's website has teams listed by geographic region, if you need more information.)

[Eugene Fang]

actually, the ball can feel like it's inflated, but u just keep on pumping and eventually it will fill the outer bag and reach 40inches in diameter.

[thatmorman]

yea, we filled ours up, it felt quite full, but if you kinda shake it around it will begin to feel deflated....

[enpurx]

keep inflating the bladder and it will eventually fill the outer shell. unfortunately, it may take a while.

i thought our ball was done inflating, but we hooked it up to the compressor for another 20 minutes and it filled the outer shell.

[Stillen]

Originally Posted by enpurx

keep inflating the bladder and it will eventually fill the outer shell. unfortunately, it may take a while.

i thought our ball was done inflating, but we hooked it up to the compressor for another 20 minutes and it filled the outer shell.

20 minutes, what are you using, a straw from a Capri Sun juice pouch????

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Stillen

20 minutes, what are you using, a straw from a Capri Sun juice pouch????

I think you underestimate how much air goes into one of those. I'm not sure how long 1135's compressor (from the robot) took, but it did take a while.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by Stillen

20 minutes, what are you using, a straw from a Capri Sun juice pouch????

We used the compressor on our '07 bot. It took at least 20 minutes to fill the ball properly. Since it was during a meeting we just had to check on it every few minutes.

[MrForbes]

At the shop we just used the shop compressed air supply and filled it right up....there's something to be said for a 5 HP or so compressor and an 80 gallon or so tank....

but yeah, that ball holds a LOT of air!

[Kat Kononov]

Yeah we used our compressor. And by "20 minutes" she meant more like 5 minutes but it seemed forever.

[cjtenny]

Apparently we had an inadequate compressor (we weren't using the FRC one). When a team member brought it to his dad's shop (mechanic), it filled up rapidly.

Oh well, all that for nothing haha.

Thanks anyway though.

/time to go mess around in SolidWorks.