[FRC Blog] Pool Noodles for the 2017 Season

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by asid61

I was wondering this too. I feel like the flower noodles would be better served to compress a bit more over the round noodles, which might help in playing defense. Has anybody conducted an impromptu study on this?

I haven't seen flower noodles in local stores in any diameter. We have enough trouble finding anything between 2-1/4" and 2-3/4" in round to worry about shapes.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by BotDesigner

Just out of curiosity, are there any teams that don't use the round pool noodles and go with one of the other shapes? It seems to me that the shape of pool noodles in the bumpers could dramatically affect robot to robot contact and I am a little surprised that I have never seen it discussed here.

The bigger issue is really solid versus hollow - solid bumper noodles compress less and resist T-Bone pins, but hollow bumper noodles compress more and are better for performing said pins and other defensive maneuvers.

If I were so hyper-competitive that I wanted to give my robotics team every edge possible, I'd consider making one of each and switching bumpers based on strategy. But I don't know if I want to put in that much effort.

[Tartan47]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

If I were so hyper-competitive that I wanted to give my robotics team every edge possible, I'd consider making one of each and switching bumpers based on strategy. But I don't know if I want to put in that much effort.

Originally Posted by FRC Blog

They may either be solid or hollow, but all noodles used on the robot at any one time will be required to be of the same construction and cross section – in other words, you will not be allowed to use solid round noodles on the bottom of your bumper and hollow petal noodles on the top.

I believe the strategy Chris mentioned would still be allowed in 2017? (Assuming one were willing to make 4 sets of bumpers for Red/Blue and Offensive/Defensive)

Pure speculation, but I'm wondering if solid noodles on bottom and hollow noodles on top would allow a robot to have a better chance of "getting under" an opposing robot depending on that robot's bumper height and this could aid in a pushing match

[ASD20]

Originally Posted by Tartan47

Pure speculation, but I'm wondering if solid noodles on bottom and hollow noodles on top would allow a robot to have a better chance of "getting under" an opposing robot depending on that robot's bumper height and this could aid in a pushing match

Not a good strategy at all. If you go into a season with the intention of "getting under" other robots, I can all but guarantee you will end up with at least one red card for tipping. It was bad enough as is this year with the large bumper zone and most robots were not even top heavy.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by ASD20

Not a good strategy at all. If you go into a season with the intention of "getting under" other robots, I can all but guarantee you will end up with at least one red card for tipping. It was bad enough as is this year with the large bumper zone and most robots were not even top heavy.

That was the strategy previously. It often resulted in a red card for the other team because of contact inside of your frame perimeter. This happened decently often in 2014.

[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Tartan47

I believe the strategy Chris mentioned would still be allowed in 2017? (Assuming one were willing to make 4 sets of bumpers for Red/Blue and Offensive/Defensive)

Pure speculation, but I'm wondering if solid noodles on bottom and hollow noodles on top would allow a robot to have a better chance of "getting under" an opposing robot depending on that robot's bumper height and this could aid in a pushing match

How does 2 sets of each color work with weigh in?

Yes solid on bottom and hollow on top and pulling the fabric as tight as possible makes your bumpers a slight wedge and is likely why this was ruled illegal. I believe 469 did this on their world champion 2014 robot.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreiber

How does 2 sets of each color work with weigh in?

Yes solid on bottom and hollow on top and pulling the fabric as tight as possible makes your bumpers a slight wedge and is likely why this was ruled illegal. I believe 469 did this on their world champion 2014 robot.

I thought the weight limit was per bumper assembly?

Regardless, you could just have two reversible bumpers.

[Caleb Sykes]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreiber

Can we all take a moment to congratulate the OP for beating Ryan Hall to this post.

Congratulations Vale.

Somebody should probably check on Ryan to make sure he is all right.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by Caleb Sykes

Congratulations Vale.

Somebody should probably check on Ryan to make sure he is all right.

Alive and well, no worries. Just busy with work. I should note that Vale gave me fair warning before she posted this thread, but I was out all day with no computer access. We'll see what happens next time.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Tartan47

Pure speculation, but I'm wondering if solid noodles on bottom and hollow noodles on top would allow a robot to have a better chance of "getting under" an opposing robot depending on that robot's bumper height and this could aid in a pushing match

Not allowed in 2016 rules, and apparently not in 2017, either:

Originally Posted by Frank's Blog (OP)

They may either be solid or hollow, but all noodles used on the robot at any one time will be required to be of the same construction and cross section – in other words, you will not be allowed to use solid round noodles on the bottom of your bumper and hollow petal noodles on the top.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Not allowed in 2016 rules, and apparently not in 2017, either:

Yes, this is literally the subject of the thread, and the reason the discussion even started. It's been mentioned in just about every post. He literally quoted the post stating it was illegal in the post you are responding to.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

Not allowed in 2016 rules, and apparently not in 2017, either:

I believe he knew this and was just speculating on why it was made illegal.

[ctt956]

Did anyone click the "Photo Credit" link? It may contain some hints...there is a "Happy Birthday" banner, and FIRST will be 25 years old. After looking at the hints, I've reached the conclusion that next year, there will be a water game.

Or maybe not. A more reasonable prediction...

Starting in 2010, there has been a game piece pattern. Spheres in the even numbered years, and other pieces in the odd numbered years:

2010 - Soccer balls
2011 - Inflatable triangle-, circle-, and square-shaped tubes
2012 - Foam basketballs
2013 - Frisbees
2014 - Exercise balls
2015 - Totes, recycling/trash cans, and noodles
2016 - Gopher SoftiBalls, AKA Boulders

I predict that the game piece(s) will not be spheres. Maybe triangle shaped or a cube. There are bumpers, so there will be robot-to-robot contact. AndyMark recently released the Peanut Chasis, with a four wheel tank drive that has two omnis at one end. A kiwi drive kit was also released. I'm thinking that the field will be (mostly)flat, at least where the robots will be driving, as omnis don't like traversing rough terrain(pun intended). I also think that there will be tight spaces that robots will probably drive into and out of, making smaller chassis, easy turning, and holonomic drivetrains important. Back to the credit link, which was about a flower-themed party. Most flowers are small, so another hint that there will be tight spaces and maybe smaller robots. Unless this is just to throw us and it will be the opposite...

TL;DR: Flat field, non-spherical game piece(s), tight spaces, maybe smaller robots.

P.S. Congratulations Vale for beating Ryan Hall to the post!

[troy_dietz]

This phenomena is widely known and has sparked a number of threads over the years. This is one of the most in depth observations: https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/s...+school+career