[BB] 2010 Game Hint #1

[IndySam]

Played with the hue/saturation in Photoshop but didn't find much.

[jamie_1930]

Yesterday as I thought I jotted down notes about the game hint and here are the ideas I've gathered.

First I took a look at the key features of the mechanism shown, highlighted in the picture.

1 (RED) - These clips are seen, or at least appear to be similar to be, in numerous product, such as tables and canopies. In those products their purpose is to allow the height, or position, of the object to different predesignated positions.

2 (Blue) - The holes shown in my opinion suggest that the lexan piece will attach to another part of the field, assuming it is a structural part of the field.

3 (Green) - The rounded cut here has been the subject of much debate on this thread because many people view it to be a difficult thing to produce and therefore needs a specific purpose. It is my opinion that in the production of this piece a lexan sheet is laid out and much like a Christmas cookies are made they are cut into their seperate pieces, then the holes are drilled and the sides are folded up to produce the final product. Now looking back to the stamping of the pieces if you were to have that be a straight line you would end up with virtually the same piece, but by adding the curve you are able to stamp out more pieces from a singular sheet because now vertically they space of the piece has been almost compressed allowing for less waste and more product, it is simply a feature used to increase productivity.

4 (Yellow) - This protrusion seems like it must be significant to the part but again it is more for productivity than anything else. With the mind set that this attaches to something else the four hole all need to be there and in order to accommodate that the extra space is need. Although by cutting back in the outer sections it allows more pieces to be made from a single sheet of lexan, because the pieces fit together like a redundant puzzle.





Then my mind wondered on the assortment of different ways this could be used
1 - Adjustable field so that from match to match robots, and drivers, will have to adapt to an ever changing environment.
-Dividers prohibit access to certain parts of the field, or prevent bulky robots from going in specific places
-Height of scoring element changes, ect.

2 - Similar to the adjustable field, but a more limbo like game where failure to pass under results in a loss of points.

3 - Rack for balls, adjustability allows for one larger ball to be randomly placed in different spots.

4 - Finally the thought, that would anger everyone of you and me more than anything, that this is just a non-fundamental piece that requires no worrying. Such as a new camera or battery mount.

[skimoose]

Originally Posted by mobilegamer999

my guess is there gonna be connected together like in the attached image and its going to be used as a rail system for balls. I sized it out and depending on the scale it should be about a 4.5 inch - 5 inch ball that fits inside of it easily.

Oooow Dave, I can't wait to see the turnouts.

What size will they be? #4, 6, or 8, LH, RH, Wye, crossovers, double slips, or three ways, and will they point or stub switches?

[jamie_1930]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Played with the hue/saturation in Photoshop but didn't find much.

didn't we see that banana in the 2007 hint?

[keehun]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Played with the hue/saturation in Photoshop but didn't find much.

Nice try with the photoshopping since I don't see a banana when I do my own.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by keehun

I CAN SWEAR I SEE A BANANA in the right half of the Lexan piece.

But there's no refraction!

[keehun]

Originally Posted by rtfgnow

But there's no refraction!

I changed my mind... Sorry! See my edited post in the same place.

This is the reason:



Maybe I'm the wrong one and not getting the correct hue/saturation settings. If that's the case, let me know!

[TEntwistle]

Originally Posted by jamie_1930

Yesterday as I thought I jotted down notes about the game hint and here are the ideas I've gathered.

First I took a look at the key features of the mechanism shown, highlighted in the picture.

1 (RED) - These clips are seen, or at least appear to be similar to be, in numerous product, such as tables and canopies. In those products their purpose is to allow the height, or position, of the object to different predesignated positions.

2 (Blue) - The holes shown in my opinion suggest that the lexan piece will attach to another part of the field, assuming it is a structural part of the field.

3 (Green) - The rounded cut here has been the subject of much debate on this thread because many people view it to be a difficult thing to produce and therefore needs a specific purpose. It is my opinion that in the production of this piece a lexan sheet is laid out and much like a Christmas cookies are made they are cut into their seperate pieces, then the holes are drilled and the sides are folded up to produce the final product. Now looking back to the stamping of the pieces if you were to have that be a straight line you would end up with virtually the same piece, but by adding the curve you are able to stamp out more pieces from a singular sheet because now vertically they space of the piece has been almost compressed allowing for less waste and more product, it is simply a feature used to increase productivity.

4 (Yellow) - This protrusion seems like it must be significant to the part but again it is more for productivity than anything else. With the mind set that this attaches to something else the four hole all need to be there and in order to accommodate that the extra space is need. Although by cutting back in the outer sections it allows more pieces to be made from a single sheet of lexan, because the pieces fit together like a redundant puzzle.

I have to disagree with most of your thoughts, although I cannot do so with much certainty. Logic for each follows below:

Red-I don't think that these clips look sturdy enough to support much weight and would have been more robust if they were to select height or position. However, they do look like pins I have seen to lock one pole inside another (with a 90 degree twist of the outer pole), so I think that they are most likely to allow this piece to attach to another yet be removed relatively easily (i.e. for moving the game pieces between events)

Blue - The holes are likely to attach to another game piece. If you put a 2x4 into this bracket, the holes on the side and the holes in the face of the lexan would be perfect for 4 drywall screws to hold the bracket to the wood. You could do something similar to aluminum box, or an electronic sensor. The position of the 4 holes would provide a sturdy connection. I also think that this is the reason for the tab on the lexan - the two hole on the face need to be far enough apart to give it strength to prevent rotation. This is similar to a pattern seen in joist brackets for decking and construction.

Green - If it were purely manufacturing, the tab on top could be duplicated in the shapre of the bottom to minimize cuts. The semi-circle shape seems appropriate for a ball so that it can travel above it on the railing. Even the side-holes are above the level of the semicircle cutout, suggesting to me that this is for clearance

Yellow - See above - I think that this is purely to get the holes far enough apart to make it structurally sound.

In addition, if the yellow piece is lexan, then it is not likely to have enough strength to stand a lot of abuse. If it is lexan, then it is likely either a piece that the robot will not interact with directly (a sensor holder), or it is off the playing field (part of a ramp for the human players to use to deliver game pieces to the field - someone earlier said Skee Ball). If it is a sensor holder on the field, my guess is that there is another piece that attaches to this one that has the real support device that will do the work of holding this track to the rest of the playing field (if it is indeed a track)

Several years ago, there was a game where the purple balls were released once a robot knocked a ball off of a post (if I read the description right) - could this be a track that contains balls that are released once the robot does something? Maybe one ball released per activity? The the lexan could hold the release mechanism/gate or something like that.

[ATannahill]

How do we know thins is the final design? It might just be a quickly made piece for the render and they ignored some finer details. What could be missing?

[martinswat1806]

If you flip it upsidedown the track idea would work as possibly a way to get balls to the human player if the robot initiates the movement.

[artdutra04]

It's part of the field; it attaches via the spring pins to either the Delta field or the primary welded aluminum ones. The pins are plenty strong enough to be used on the field.

The curve in the plastic is there for the same reason that the bolts that hold the bronze polycarbonate to the structure are recessed: they have to clear a ball without any snags. I'm guessing soccer balls, since it's been quite a few years since we've had them on the field (2002 was the last year), and unlike the Orbit balls, are easily available everywhere in the world. (Football anyone?) Plus, while past events aren't definite proof of future events, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 have all been "normal" ball years: 2010 is on track to be another ball year.

And looking around on the Internet, trying to find blue and red soccer balls is surprising hard (they're out of stock!) while all non red/blue colored soccer balls are in stock! Why would red and blue soccer balls be out of stock in the winter, while all other colors be in stock?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3540673
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3439879

Bronze polycarbonate was chosen for a specific reason other than kicks and giggles, and has to deal with either the transparency or the lighter weight of polycarbonate as opposed to aluminum. While this bracket should be able to withstand several hundred pounds of static force before it fails, I'm guessing that this bracket is somewhere not accessible to the robot, either off the field or in an area protected from full-speed rams by robots. The high tab sticking off the top, coupled with large radii around the 1/4" or 5/16" mounting holes indicate that this piece will bear some kind of significant load (the radii are used to reduce stress concentrations).

The fact that the polycarbonate is mounted onto a larger pipe is significant. While it'll most likely not move during a match, I'm guessing the outer pipe is used either as a cheap, idiot-proof spacer (washers could fall off during assembly, and are easy to loose), or to facilitate assembly of the entire structure that this model is attached to. (Think of those times on your robot when something doesn't quite line up, so you loosen everything and tighten everything down at once ).

I'm guessing this structure is the base of a soccer ball auto loader, and polycarbonate was chosen to allow teams (robots?) to more easily see if there is one last ball in the auto loader. The autoloader will hold some set number of balls (six? eight? ten? Baker's dozen? Bueler?). There might even me some release mechanism, such that like the 2004 game, they are released onto the field (or made available) at some point in the match after some condition has been met.

The bronze color of the polycarbonate is also most likely significant, as clear polycarbonate is cheaper than smoked polycarbonate.

Some facts about bronze:

Bronze color:
RGB: 205,127,50
Hex: #CD7F32

Bronze is the most popular medal for cast metal statues.


Bronze Star Medal. Possible connection to cooperition?

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the ninth highest military award (including both combat and non-combat awards) in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations. Officers from the other federal uniformed services are also eligible to receive the award if they are militarized or detailed to serve with a service branch of the armed forces.

Bronze is also a breed of domestic turkey.




Bronze is also traditionally given to the third place recipient. Possible third alliance?

Edit: 2228th post

[TEntwistle]

Any possibility the game could be played with something like a tennis ball? There haven't been any games with a ball that small since 2000, so it would provide a unique challenge. I remember a quote from the GDC about keeping the game interesting for veteran teams but also something that rookies could handle (the case every year). I know that there are practical reasons to keep the game pieces large but it is not an inherent requirement.

[skimoose]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Some facts about bronze:

Another bronze fact: Manufacturers of steam locomotives used bronze builder's plates to apply the following data to a locomotive; Manufacturer's Name, Manufacturer's Location, year of manufacture, builder's serial number for that specific locomotive.



Unfortunately, most bronze builder's plates, as well as the bronze number plates off the smoke box nose or cab sides were removed and melted down during war effort metal drives in World War II.

Just a little fuel for the train and tracks thoughts.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

And looking around on the Internet, trying to find blue and red soccer balls is surprising hard (they're out of stock!) while all non red/blue colored soccer balls are in stock! Why would red and blue soccer balls be out of stock in the winter, while all other colors be in stock?
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3540673
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3439879

But the orbit balls weren't out of stock pre-kickoff last year, were they? I think this soccer ball business might just be a coincidence (though I guess you could be spot on)

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by Karibou

But the orbit balls weren't out of stock pre-kickoff last year, were they? I think this soccer ball business might just be a coincidence (though I guess you could be spot on)

Idk. Ordering 3-4 thousand soccer balls might cause a certain product to go out of order.

Just a thought.