First Official 2012 Game Hint

[Sandahl]

Why do you think they have a Quantity collumn?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by rcmolloy

Wasn't around for Aim High, however it looks as if they all funneled into a mesh type netting. I believe that pokey pokey stick helped clear the bunches of balls that were restricted from the netting.

Correct me if I am wrong Gary.

I was around, and that's sort of it, but not really.

The back of the goal was netting, but the exit was at the bottom (a sloped ramp led to a hole, which dropped balls one at a time through a tube to a trash can or tote in the player station). Due to the size of the hole, the jams tended to happen down there. Poking the pile usually allowed one at a time to drop in with no further effort (unless you had one of the Triplets, 254/968, and Pink or Killer Bees all opening fire--then you needed to be very careful with the stick to avoid descoring balls).

Originally Posted by Sandahl

Why do you think they have a Quantity collumn?

To confuse us. No, actually: This is likely an exact quantity request list; when you fill one out, you put the part number, the quantity, and the price (and maybe a few other things like number on the list) for each and every item. Now, we don't need to know price (besides the fact we can look it up by part number if needed), and the quantity will tell us some of what is going on/where the part is used.

[Miksoko]

What if there is a tunnel?
There are a lot of amber lights and a lot of photoswitches- which monitor light in a given spot. This would work most accurately in a full dark situtation which is not possible in a game setting. To get full dark, I propose that as a speculation, they have a tunnel, and blind operations.

[zaphodp.jensen]

Originally Posted by Miksoko

What if there is a tunnel?
There are a lot of amber lights and a lot of photoswitches- which monitor light in a given spot. This would work most accurately in a full dark situtation which is not possible in a game setting. To get full dark, I propose that as a speculation, they have a tunnel, and blind operations.

The Amber lights are found on all of the competition fields, under the stack lights at the Alliance Stations. There are 6 Per Field. That is 12 for the two new fields.

Also, the photoswitches are used for detecting proximity, and or line following. They are not analog parts, so they are not useful for detecting light levels. How they work is they send out an IR beam, and when they get a reflection that is above a set threshold amount, they turn on.

And if we had a tunnel long enough for it to be dark, how would the field get reset, how would the spectators see, and the operators operate?

[UBY]

what will the very high speed counter be used for? I was wondering if there would be tennis balls, racketballs, golf balls?

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by UBY

what will the very high speed counter be used for? I was wondering if there would be tennis balls, racketballs, golf balls?

Small balls are a possibility, but also consider the safety aspect of any game piece... a golf ball that gets shot out into the crowd (or at a ref!) could injure someone. If you've ever played tennis or racquetball, you know those can sting pretty good too, when hit hard!

Foam balls - like those used in many Nerf toys - can be launched pretty quickly, yet won't hurt much if a shot goes wrong. But those are probably too easily obtained and frequently stocked to be used as a FIRST game piece

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by eagle33199

Small balls are a possibility, but also consider the safety aspect of any game piece... a golf ball that gets shot out into the crowd (or at a ref!) could injure someone. If you've ever played tennis or racquetball, you know those can sting pretty good too, when hit hard!

Foam balls - like those used in many Nerf toys - can be launched pretty quickly, yet won't hurt much if a shot goes wrong. But those are probably too easily obtained and frequently stocked to be used as a FIRST game piece

What says they have to be shot though? What if they are going to be fed into a bucket of some sort instead of a goal on a wall.

[Jon Stratis]

Even if they are going into a bucket, don't you think that some team is going to have the bright idea that shooting them in from half a field away will allow them to score more points (as they won't have to drive right up to the bucket)?

I've been hit with the game pieces (intentionally or accidentally) for every game for the past 5 years. None of them have really posed an injury threat if something went wrong - the closest we got was with the track balls, and being as large as they were it was pretty difficult to get them enough speed to be really dangerous (which still didn't stop some team from trying in their effort to score quickly and efficiently!).

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by eagle33199

Even if they are going into a bucket, don't you think that some team is going to have the bright idea that shooting them in from half a field away will allow them to score more points (as they won't have to drive right up to the bucket)?

I've been hit with the game pieces (intentionally or accidentally) for every game for the past 5 years. None of them have really posed an injury threat if something went wrong - the closest we got was with the track balls, and being as large as they were it was pretty difficult to get them enough speed to be really dangerous (which still didn't stop some team from trying in their effort to score quickly and efficiently!).

Rules could be made to stop this, my point is I wouldn't count out any game piece.

[Taylor]

FTC currently encourages students to lift bowling balls way up high. There are many ways in which safety can be instituted in an exciting way.
Recall the initial velocity rules from 2006.

<S02> Muzzle Velocity - No ROBOT may throw a ball with an exit velocity of greater than 12 m/s (26.8 mph).
As a reference, a ball traveling at this velocity when leaving the ROBOT at an angle of 30º from horizontal with no spin will travel approximately 35 feet. A robot that violates this rule will be considered unsafe per <S01>.

[zaphodp.jensen]

And Remember, they had numerous palates of plexiglass, which could be used to enclose the entire field, protecting spectators and drivers alike...

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by Taylor

FTC currently encourages students to lift bowling balls way up high. There are many ways in which safety can be instituted in an exciting way.
Recall the initial velocity rules from 2006.

No it doesn't, it doesn't specifically discourage it either, but the goal into which the bowling ball is scored is only 8 inches above the playing field and there is a ramp leading up to it. Furthermore, the bowling ball only weighs six pounds, so it would hurt, but anything that could make it do more than that would likely be declared a safety hazard and would have to be disabled in order to pass inspection.

Originally Posted by zaphodp.jensen

And Remember, they had numerous palates of plexiglass, which could be used to enclose the entire field, protecting spectators and drivers alike...

Just a word of caution, Plexiglass is acrylic, which shatters on impact; The palates had polycarbonate, which doesn't shatter under normal conditions and bends to absorb impacts rather than failing completely. I don't recommend using plexiglass on or near the robots for anything, but polycarbonate is a good material for FRC when it is properly used.

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by PAR_WIG1350

Just a word of caution, Plexiglass is acrylic, which shatters on impact; The palates had polycarbonate, which doesn't shatter under normal conditions and bends to absorb impacts rather than failing completely. I don't recommend using plexiglass on or near the robots for anything, but polycarbonate is a good material for FRC when it is properly used.

thats a bit ironic... what i wonder is how they get away with using plexiglass for the guard panels at hockey rinks... pucks can fly at pretty quick speeds, esp in a pro game and it bounces of one of the goal posts (net supports)... must be a puck thing.

speaking of which, what about puck like hockey game? that my require high speed sensors...

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by ratdude747

thats a bit ironic... what i wonder is how they get away with using plexiglass for the guard panels at hockey rinks... pucks can fly at pretty quick speeds, esp in a pro game and it bounces of one of the goal posts (net supports)... must be a puck thing.

Because they do use polycarbonate but the sportscasters call it plexiglass because it's easier to say.

[KrazyCarl92]

Originally Posted by IndySam

Because they do use polycarbonate but the sportscasters call it plexiglass because it's easier to say.

They in fact use plexiglass. Having played hockey and seen the stuff shatter, it REALLY shatters everywhere. Video evidence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB9CMKHGjag

As for how they "get away with it", my guess would be a difference in yield strengths. It may take much more force to shatter the plexiglass rather than bend the polycarbonate. I don't know this for sure, but that's how I could rationalize this application. That being said, polycarbonate is better than plexiglass for robotics because plexiglass will shatter like in above video.