18-09-2006 15:59

Stuart

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

. . something about that big ball reminds me of the Indiana Jones

18-09-2006 20:03

Rich Kressly

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

...and something about Joe Troy makes me think of anyone BUT Indiana Jones

Sorry Joe, don't hurt me. I just had to.

18-09-2006 20:34

AdamHeard

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

How difficult was it to push the atlas ball around?

does anyone know how much it weighs?

18-09-2006 21:33

Chuck Glick

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

rumor has it that the ball is possibly the same ball as the 2X ball from 2004. hope that helps.

19-09-2006 09:26

Joe Troy

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

The ball was not easy to push for various reasons:
- The ball in the picture was out of round and the weight was off center
- Smaller robots tended to drive under the ball
- Obstacles (softballs, other robots) on the opposite side of the ball often became wedges
- Robots pushing on opposite sides of the ball, regardless of the pushing power of the robots, and especially when under the hanging bar were a complete standoff

The atlas ball will play a role in this game in addition to its value as a multiplier.

19-09-2006 10:32

Fuzzy

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

How hard is it to reset the field? I'm imagine those softball stacks to be troublesome, especially if they rolled into other stacks and start a chain reaction.

19-09-2006 11:11

KathieK

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

That was the first thing I thought of when I watched the animation.

19-09-2006 11:53

Rich Kressly

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

I'm sure Joe and others that were in DE can give you more detailed information, but I will say that the GDC did discuss field reset and it's one of the reasons this configuration was picked.

Last year it was possible that 100 balls had to be reset and those pesky lines were troublesome. We also lost time between matches last year with robots "slipping" down the hill from their starting positions.

This year we have the potential to reset 40 balls in piles of four on the field with six balls for preloading. While it might not be obvious to you, every place where a pile of four softballs starts is at an intersection of tiles (and most are also marked by the white tape). Also note that the bottom three softballs in a stack are set in "random orientation" so we take out the need for an overly precise reset position. After that, all that needs to be reset are the atlas ball, and a quick rotation of the platform.

I can only speak for the Delaware event with certainty, but DE and many others will use two fields. This means that one match will run while the other field is being reset.

So, if you factor in the folks we needed last year on the autonomous field that no longer exists, our prediction is that these events should be able to have a quicker reset between matches and use the same number of reset volunteers as were used last year.

19-09-2006 18:57

ActionJoe

Re: pic: Joe Troy studying the atlas ball

As someone who stacked softballs for several hours at the Delaware open house, I can tell you that the stacking is quite easy. It is certainly much simpler than trying to line up 20 racquetballs in a row. Two people should be able to reset the field in under a minute.

I agree with Joe Troy that teams need to pay special attention to the atlas ball. Due to the unbalanced nature of the ball a robot can push it one way and have it roll back or to the side. Teams should be prepared for the ball to move in an unpredictable manner. The last 10 seconds are going to be very exciting, especially if the ball is near the centerline since it will wobble for a good 5 -10 seconds before it settles down enough to be counted.