08-02-2009 17:25

EHaskins

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Ours balls don't look that bad yet, but we're expecting the field ones to be in pretty bad shape.

08-02-2009 17:25

R.C.

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Hopefully Not, a fortune on Kit balls this year?

08-02-2009 17:26

Danny McC

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Ours are pretty bad but man what did you do to make them that bad?

08-02-2009 17:28

Klake

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Our head mentor said "look these balls wont smash" and stomped on it. It broke in 3 places. I can expect them to be roughed up but cannot imagine quite like that.

08-02-2009 17:29

Tottanka

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

That is one poor ball...

i wonder what it takes to get them to look that bed.

08-02-2009 17:37

Manoel

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

We never got ours to deflate...

08-02-2009 18:06

Karibou

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Ours aren't quite that bad...yet.

Blip is going to make millions off of us this year...Investing in their stock might be worthwile.

08-02-2009 18:30

Andrew Bates

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

That ball has been through a lot, all of our prototypes used it and it has been the practice ball for the kids. I doubt they will get that bad before being removed but it's possible.

08-02-2009 21:47

Brandon Holley

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Why this ball has certainly seen a considerable amount of abuse, none of it was that far out of the question of what a normal match would be.

This ball has been kicked, tossed, and shot around the lab since kickoff to reach this point. While I'm sure not too many balls will end up like this after a match, they certainly can't handle an extended amount of abuse.

08-02-2009 21:52

MikeDubreuil

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

One has to wonder... is this the worst kids gift of all time? "Wild Time" Orbit Ball... I can imagine giving this ball to a child and having them break it in less than 2 minutes. What "wild time" could a person actually have with this ball before breaking it? Misnomer? False advertising?

BTW: I am in the picture, to the left of the Northeastern president, behind the robot. Cool!

08-02-2009 22:03

dani190

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

im thinking first will need to have a truck load of balls per a competition at least so that they dont run out...

09-02-2009 00:08

smurfgirl

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

Yikes. That ball has seen the end of its days for sure. I'm guessing they'll take the balls off the field before they look like that (or I will? I'm field repair/reset at CTR ).

09-02-2009 00:16

mtaman02

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

I can almost gurantee that FIRST will have plenty of these balls. Only b/c I know they had a **** load of this big balls last year and tubes the year before and so on and so forth. Everyone remember the poofs right lol. FIRST makes sure they have plenty on hand and then some. I won't say any numbers b/c idk any right now but they set X Amount for the Regional, X Amount extra for the same regional.

In short they should have plenty. Besides these shouldn't be too roughed up since things are a bit different this year.

09-02-2009 00:38

Smoores

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

I've learned a lot about the breaking points of these balls, but I've not seen it that bad. I've played baseball, basketball, Moonball(a new sport I invented using the prototype arms of years past) and been able to fit a ball over a person's head. But the same ball I've done that with is still good enough to test. How you did that is remarkable.

09-02-2009 09:15

Brandon Holley

Re: pic: Kit ball vs. New ball

This ball honestly hasn't had any EXTRAORDINARY amount of punishment..sure its been kicked and tossed around, but aside from a brief incident with a prototype shooter on a lathe, its been just tossed around.