Competition Orbit Balls

[smurfgirl]

I was at the Boston Regional doing field repair/reset, and we did check the balls as we reset the field after every match, and replaced the broken ones with new ones. If one of the strips of the ball had snapped and was poking out of the fabric, it came off the field. If all the strips were connected and round but the fabric was slightly torn, or it had grease spots on it, it stayed on the field because it was still perfectly functional. We found one ball covered in blood (who knew robots could bleed?) which came off the field because it wasn't sanitary... I think you'll find that people will use common sense, and the balls will all be in pretty good condition.

[JimWright949]

I was repairing the orbit balls at Portland. Out of all the balls that were used only about 20-25 broke all week-end long. We repaired the balls that only had one broken rib at the rib connector and put those back into play. Any compound fractures (two or more ribs by the time it was pulled from the field), or ribs that would leave sharp points sticking out we did not repair.

By the way, for the repair people in the following regionals the official repair guide is really tough on your hands. My change was to cut the fabric seam, expose the plastic rib for about 2 inches and then with a drill on a block of wood drill the two holes (1/4 inch drill bit) per rib side and then use the hole punch to line up the black splint to the four holes. Rivet the rib back and pull the fabric back over the rivets as best as you can.

-Jim

[ChuckDickerson]

Thanks for all the input on the real field balls. Sounds like the balls aren't breaking as bad as teams were worried about in the beginning and the few that are are being replaced quickly.

What about the practice fields? Are plenty of balls supplied for those or are teams having to share just a few? Are the broken real field casts off being taken to the practice fields or are the practice field balls in good shape?

[cdennisxlx2]

In San Diego we had only about one whole bag of broken balls at the end of Saturday that couldn't be repaired. We still had bags with new ones at the end that was allocated to us that we didn't use. We didn't actually have to repair a whole lot of balls, there were probably half a bag or so that were repaired. Me and our FTA were pleasantly surprised. I think most of the balls that broke were in the finals.

All the broken balls get loaded back on the truck to FIRST, im sure they will recycle them or something.

[OScubed]

At FLR we were asked to bring our own practice orbit balls, which we did. It was handy to have them in the pits anyway to cycle them through our upper mechanism for testing. I'd plan to bring some LABELLED balls with me to an event.

Cheers,

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by cdennisxlx2

All the broken balls get loaded back on the truck to FIRST, im sure they will recycle them or something.

At the end of each event, the excess Orbit Balls are fed to the FTAs. FTAs will eat anything.

-dave




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[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by dlavery

At the end of each event, the excess Orbit Balls are fed to the FTAs. FTAs will eat anything.

-dave




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Mmmmm.... orbit ballz...

FTAs will eat anything because they so rarely have time to eat.

[Graham Donaldson]

Originally Posted by dlavery

At the end of each event, the excess Orbit Balls are fed to the FTAs. FTAs will eat anything.

-dave




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Funny...if anything, I think Pete was eating FMS/comm cables at NJ...the orbit balls were the least of his worries. Greg might've been eating them though...

[Mike8519]

The scorpion's insides are quite delicious

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

We found one ball covered in blood (who knew robots could bleed?) which came off the field because it wasn't sanitary...

Blood?!!?!? Wow. That's odd.
Are you sure it wasn't Loctite or something else that robots can actually bleed?? lol

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Blood?!!?!? Wow. That's odd.
Are you sure it wasn't Loctite or something else that robots can actually bleed?? lol

No I believe someone had cut their hand on something and subsequently handled the ball after the match.