Team Update #2

[Pat McCarthy]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

But, doesn't that mean that if a team panics and forgets to push the E-Stop Button they get penalized

If it is obvious that there is a problem to the refs, and your team is freaking out, the refs will most likely remind you about the E-stop if at all possible. It may come as a surprise, but refs really don't want to give penalties if they are preventable.

[Bharat Nain]

Robots can be disabled from the field also. I am sure if it is a safety hazard someone behind the table will pull the plug.

[SSMike]

Originally Posted by Pat McCarthy

If it is obvious that there is a problem to the refs, and your team is freaking out, the refs will most likely remind you about the E-stop if at all possible. It may come as a surprise, but refs really don't want to give penalties if they are preventable.

[/notsarcasm]Yeah refs are usually very good at reminding you of these things to prevent penalties.[not sarcasm]
I don't see them having to remind too many teams though. If you tip over and can't go back, the drivers should then know what to do.

[Lucas]

On my think, the challenge become bigger! I was afraid to hold a trackball of 40"! So now I'm desperate!!!!rsrs

As higher the task, it will be better!

Good luck to everybody!

[Optimizer]

OK, so it's likely "102 cm", and not "120 cm". But am I remembering wrong, or wasn't it supposed to weigh 10 pounds? 2500g = 2.5kg = 5.5 pounds. Is the cover 4.5 pounds?

[Branden Ghena]

Be sure to add the weight of air. It seems negligible, but at that size the air could weigh about a pound.

[Optimizer]

Originally Posted by tawnos23

Be sure to add the weight of air. It seems negligible, but at that size the air could weigh about a pound.

I hadn't thought of that, but I don't think it applies. Archimedes principle, ya' know. Helium would actually subtract weight, for example. We're talking weight, not mass.

[Donut]

I must say I'm very dissapointed in the change to <G40>. Before an effective hybrid mode defense could be played by spacing robots out on the field so as to make it more difficult for opposing robots to navigatge, but opposing robots had a chance of getting through with some really clever programming (or good luck). Now any alliance can effectively limit their opponent to 32 points (3 robots crossing 2 lines and one knocked ball) by simply having all 3 drive forward for a second or two, with the defense only failing if one has enough pushing power to shove a robot a good 10 feet (not likely with many of this year's drivetrains geared for speed).

I wouldn't expect a good hybrid lap bot to get more than 8 points now, I was really looking forward to seeing at least one team pull off well beyond a full lap.

<G36> is a good add though, no sense in making an already disheartened team feel worse with the penalties.

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Donut

Now any alliance can effectively limit their opponent to 32 points (3 robots crossing 2 lines and one knocked ball) by simply having all 3 drive forward for a second or two....

So that would be a 32-0 start for the non-defensive alliance? I think most alliances would be delighted to come out of hybrid mode with a 32 point lead.

I wouldn't worry too much about this rule change affecting the spirit of the game.... all it is doing is simply pointing out that a "bump to pass" rule in hybrid would be very awkward given the challenges that many, many teams have with auto code.

Jason

[BlondeNerd]

Remember, it says the bladder is 120 cm. The cover prevents the ball from extending more than 40 in. My panicked team ran out to check how big our ball really was this morning and realized this to be the case.

[Ian S.]

So are the trackballs going to be 40" or 48" at the competition? My team is on the edge of a herder because of this new information..

[Richard McClellan]

They are still 40" The bladders may be able to inflate to 48", but the protecting covering is still only 40"

[65_Xero_Huskie]

Originally Posted by Optimizer

OK, so it's likely "102 cm", and not "120 cm". But am I remembering wrong, or wasn't it supposed to weigh 10 pounds? 2500g = 2.5kg = 5.5 pounds. Is the cover 4.5 pounds?

You have to add the weight of air, And make sure you weigh ur ball if at all possible, because the balls do not all weigh the same

[SgtMillhouse648]

Originally Posted by Optimizer

OK, so it's likely "102 cm", and not "120 cm". But am I remembering wrong, or wasn't it supposed to weigh 10 pounds? 2500g = 2.5kg = 5.5 pounds. Is the cover 4.5 pounds?

That isn't how much the ball/bladder weighs, it is the weight of the PVC per cubic unit I believe. It's like the insulation in winter gear, 1000 gram thinsulate does not mean there are 1000 grams of thinsulate insulation in it. It is just the weight per cubic unit.

[Frank Neuperger]

Sportogo says they were the vendor to FIRST for the trackball cover but not the ball.
THe FIRST balls weigh 7.1 to 7.2 lbs. We did this measurement on a really good load cell.

The FIRST cover weighs ~1.5 lbs (weighed by Sportogo on spring scale with 1/10 lb graduations). This would suggest that the FIRST bladder should weigh 5.6 - 5.7 lbs.

The $20.50 Sportogo ball SP01501 weighs 4.4 Lbs (per Portogo) and does not have the "anti burst addative" that makes the PVS have the closed cell foam texture.

The $30 Sportogo Ball SP100001 weighs 4.8 lbs and does have the antiburst addative.

Both of the above bladders at almost 1 lb underweight. We are still on the hunt for the EXACT FIRST bladder.

Note that we did repair the 1.5 inch laceration in our ball by using PVC cement (the stuff for PVC pipes) and a patch made from a deflated 8" PVC ball of similar material (no foam) and clamping overnight. It seems to be holding air. We repaired the tear in the cover using an iron on patch before inflating the patched bladder. Be carefull with the temperature of the iron!