pic: Soccor balls stuck on ball return

[jmanela]

loading photo ...

[Alex Dinsmoor]

It turned out (from what I saw) that a ball was ripped, and so got caught in the ball return. Our human player tried pushing the balls as fast as he could down the chute, but nothing worked.

We ended out replaying the match.


And of course hanging again (as you can see )

[Bill_B]

Are they stuck because the hanging 'bot has distorted the tower's geometry?

[Joe Ross]

Isn't this covered by <G18>?

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Bill_B

Are they stuck because the hanging 'bot has distorted the tower's geometry?

No, they were stuck long before we hung. It was because one of the robots tore off a piece of the ball and it got snagged in the chute.

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Isn't this covered by <G18>?

As noted above, they were damaged pre-ball return

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by Alex Dinsmoor

It turned out (from what I saw) that a ball was ripped, and so got caught in the ball return.

really? i heard on the webcast that it was cause some teams had some duct tape type of substance on their robot that rubbed off on the ball causing them to get stuck. oh btw good thing there was a replay, i was afk for the original XD

[Alex Dinsmoor]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

really? i heard on the webcast that it was cause some teams had some duct tape type of substance on their robot that rubbed off on the ball causing them to get stuck. oh btw good thing there was a replay, i was afk for the original XD

Well that may have also been a cause, but I saw a triangular piece of the ball casing raised away from the ball when the match ended. The ref held it up, and that's what I saw. It may have been duct tape though. I was 30 ft away taking pictures.

And the first match was more exciting (7-4 instead of 5-1)

[The Cyborg]

It's amazing how just a little bit of tape or ripped ball can cause a jam like that, especially when a couple of more balls fail to unjam it. Is this the only case of something like this happening?

[GaryVoshol]

There were two cases of this at Cass.

One was user-induced when a robot's hanger mechanism stopped a ball from coming off the return (and generated penalties).

The other was caused when a faster-moving ball caught up with a slower one on the return, and the friction between the two ball surfaces caused them to slow down even further. The first ball dropped into the gap between the end of the return and the tower crossbar. <G18> was applied.

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

There were two cases of this at Cass.

One was user-induced when a robot's hanger mechanism stopped a ball from coming off the return (and generated penalties).

The other was caused when a faster-moving ball caught up with a slower one on the return, and the friction between the two ball surfaces caused them to slow down even further. The first ball dropped into the gap between the end of the return and the tower crossbar. <G18> was applied.

Someone should lash some 2006 pokey pokey sticks together and create the most entertaining volunteer position we've had since....the 2006 pokey pokey guy.

[The Cyborg]

Well, I found out today what the case was.
Apparently one of the teams had some sticky stuff on their gripper/kicker mechanism that managed to adhere to the ball, which caused the ball to slow down on the way down the ramp and get stuck in the space in between the ramp and the hanging pole on the tower (since the ball didn't have enough velocity to just simply bounce down). GooGone did the trick of getting rid of the sticky stuff on the ball .

[nikeairmancurry]

Originally Posted by The Cyborg

Well, I found out today what the case was.
Apparently one of the teams had some sticky stuff on their gripper/kicker mechanism that managed to adhere to the ball, which caused the ball to slow down on the way down the ramp and get stuck in the space in between the ramp and the hanging pole on the tower (since the ball didn't have enough velocity to just simply bounce down). GooGone did the trick of getting rid of the sticky stuff on the ball .

This is correct.. I was working on the field and many teams were using duck tape on the front of there robots. We ended up rotating out 8 balls off the field, to help prevent this. Also, every team, that had something close to a sticky substance, was checked out to see if it was going to become an issue.

[The Cyborg]

Originally Posted by nikeairmancurry

This is correct.. I was working on the field and many teams were using duck tape on the front of there robots. We ended up rotating out 8 balls off the field, to help prevent this. Also, every team, that had something close to a sticky substance, was checked out to see if it was going to become an issue.

I also think that the gaffing tape used to line the field might be leaving some residue on the balls, so this issue can't be completely avoidable. It's all a matter of checking for anything obstructive on the balls before the match. I encourage every team and volunteer to double check for things like this before the match, and notify someone before any problems arise. Otherwise we will need to gather up some 2006 pokey pokey sticks as Travis Hoffman mentioned earlier

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

Someone should lash some 2006 pokey pokey sticks together and create the most entertaining volunteer position we've had since....the 2006 pokey pokey guy.

Gee, that seems like a kinda hokey solution.

That's what it's all about.