Posted by Tom Lish, Other on team #126, Gael Force, from Clinton High School and NYPRO, Inc…
Posted on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST
One of the teachers on our team has been waiting for F.I.R.S.T. to use footballs for the last 5 years. Will it be next year? Who knows? I think that it would be a good challenge. What do you guys think?
Posted by Chris, Coach on team #308, Walled Lake Monster, from Walled Lake Schools and TRW Automotive Electronics.
Posted on 4/30/99 9:04 PM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
Footballs sound interesting. One of our old teachers used to think that they would combine the big balls with the innertubes one of these years (like they did with the big balls and small balls with Hexagon Havoc). This would be a tough challenge.
: One of the teachers on our team has been waiting for F.I.R.S.T. to use footballs for the last 5 years. Will it be next year? Who knows? I think that it would be a good challenge. What do you guys think?
Posted by Dodd Stacy, Engineer on team #95, Lebanon Robotics Team, from Lebanon High School and CRREL/CREARE.
Posted on 4/30/99 9:39 PM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
Footballs could be fun. It would be a nice change of pace from the last three years for the competition to use ANY sort of regulation athletic equipment/balls with some reasonably sharp standards on size/shape/stiffness/etc. The variation in the balls last year was especially difficult to cope with for some of the manipulator designs and play strategies. I think more predictable and consistent game objects allow more latitude for different handling approaches and designs.
Dodd
Posted by Daniel, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.
Posted on 5/1/99 1:50 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Dodd Stacy on 4/30/99 9:39 PM MST:
Isn’t difficult the point?
I love having things that are tough to pick up. It makes us think…
Besides, footballs are a little small to see from the audience. I’ll post if I think of anything.
-Daniel
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 5/2/99 6:23 PM MST
In Reply to: I like hard stuff, call me crazy… posted by Daniel on 5/1/99 1:50 AM MST:
I know that FIRST was trying to make an easily visible object this year, but I think the floppies failed to make the grade.
It was close to imposssible to know how many floppies a robot had in it’s possession without counting the remaining floppies. While it was not really difficult math, it was not exactly what one would call transparent either.
I think something about the size of last year’s balls was about right in terms of size and visibility.
How to make something that size lighter and more consistant in size, shape, etc. is the real trick.
I think FIRST already knows what the game is for next year (basic concept anyway). If anyone hears juicy rumors about it, do tell…
Joe J.
Posted by David Kelso, Coach on team #131, C.H.A.O.S.-, from Central High School and OSRAM SYLVANIA/ Fleet Bank.
Posted on 5/1/99 9:36 AM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
I have been expecting highway cones myself. They are different
enough in shape to make things interesting. I bet you could even
buy them for practice for less that $20 each.
: One of the teachers on our team has been waiting for F.I.R.S.T. to use footballs for the last 5 years. Will it be next year? Who knows? I think that it would be a good challenge. What do you guys think?
Posted by Kate Leach, Student on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode / RS Machines.
Posted on 5/2/99 6:58 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: Dare I say Footballs? posted by David Kelso on 5/1/99 9:36 AM MST:
:I bet you could even buy them for practice for less that $20 each.
What would you need to buy them for?? Just pick them up off the sides of the road or highway… It’s a lot easier and cheaper that way… Just make sure you don’t do it in broad daylight… It gets kinda messy when people can see you ganking the cones… 
-KATe-
Posted by Daniel, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.
Posted on 5/3/99 1:39 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Kate Leach on 5/2/99 6:58 PM MST:
Yeah I can just see the headlines: ‘FIRST competition finally causes impact as car plummets from unfinished bridge’. Just make sure you only gank EVERY OTHER cone…
-Daniel
Posted by Joe Johnson, Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.
Posted on 5/3/99 7:04 PM MST
In Reply to: I can just see it… posted by Daniel on 5/3/99 1:39 AM MST:
Help me out here.
I have inferred that ‘gank’ is some sort of synonym for a 5 finger discount, but what else does it mean, how is it used, and where in the world did it come from?
Joe J.
Posted by Kate Leach, Student on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode / RS Machines.
Posted on 5/3/99 7:11 PM MST
In Reply to: to gank: a verb meaning… posted by Joe Johnson on 5/3/99 7:04 PM MST:
Well, us Merrimack people are a little bit wacked… And we make up words all the time… It gets to be rather interesting if a group of us are playing scrabble and using our made up words… Well, to get to my point… I use ‘gank’ the same way that I would use ‘steal’ in a sentence… Kinda like the New England terminology ‘wicked’ means ‘really’… And while I’m on the topic of terminology… Why is it that I get weird looks when I use ‘sexy’ casually in the middle of a sentence when referring to robots and stuff???
-KATe-
Posted by Daniel, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.
Posted on 5/3/99 7:36 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: to gank: a verb meaning… posted by Kate Leach on 5/3/99 7:11 PM MST:
Are you kidding? I happen to think our robot is by far the sexiest member of my team!
Well, maybe second to certain co-leaders…
(I just totally lost your faith in my opinion with that last part didn’t I?)
You’re not too messed up. Well, not more than me anyways…
-Daniel
Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.
Posted on 5/3/99 8:47 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: to gank: a verb meaning… posted by Kate Leach on 5/3/99 7:11 PM MST:
Hey, I’ve used gank for a wicked long time.
(Yes, i actually use the work wicked all the time. I’m from New England)
Mike
Posted by Jon, Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Posted on 5/5/99 4:19 PM MST
In Reply to: Re: to gank: a verb meaning… posted by Kate Leach on 5/3/99 7:11 PM MST:
I first ran across the word Gank in that short amount of time that i tried to play the drums, and so here i refer to the Percussion World Slang Index… http://percussion.simplenet.com/slang.shtml
Gank (gangk ) v. Making a big gash in your stick, caused by rimshot or just sucking. ie. I just ganked the ■■■■ out of my stick. To steal something, i.e. That dude just ganked my stick! or Man, our instructor just ganked that part from Vanguard '90. also rip, yoink East Coast terminology for skangk, see skangk
And if that’s not good enough… http://www.dolemite.com
gank: robbed or to rob someone. Syn. JACK
ah… the internet… is there anything that’s not on a webpage somewhere?
Jonathan
Posted by Rob Vetere, Engineer on team #177, Bobcat Robotics, from South WIndsor HS and UTC- International Fuel Cells and ONSI.
Posted on 5/1/99 9:48 AM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
: One of the teachers on our team has been waiting for F.I.R.S.T. to use footballs for the last 5 years. Will it be next year? Who knows? I think that it would be a good challenge. What do you guys think?
I too have been waiting for footballs and i loved the ease of the big balls. But i am nearly certain that FIRST will use floppies again next year. Think about it, they are light weight so the devices that support them can use less expensive materials to maintain the weight. They are NOT a constant shape so a team cant build a static end-effector that easily harvests the floppies like most teams did for ladder logic of toroid terror. The floppies make the design of the robots much more creative, i think. I can confidently say that you’ll see floppies again in many years of FIRST.
Rob
Posted by Daniel, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.
Posted on 5/1/99 10:09 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Rob Vetere on 5/1/99 9:48 AM MST:
Floppies were great, but FIRST would never do anything twice.
Teams need to do the entire design process each year. Start from scratch. If you make one of the variables constant, there’s that much less to do. Just copy the guy who had the best conveyor (Beatty) or gripper. FIRST would never do anything twice. I’d hafta bet on you being wrong. Sorry
Besides, you say floppies made robots more creative, but would that really last or would all the teams suddenly have a variation of the best design from the previous year? Maybe you’ve just got a floppy fetish…
-Daniel
Posted by Daniel, Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.
Posted on 5/1/99 10:13 AM MST
In Reply to: Floppy Fettish? posted by Daniel on 5/1/99 10:09 AM MST:
Wait, did you mean the exact same floppies or the same type of stuffed bags but just of a different shape? Because if you meant the second one, I may have to change my vote.
-Daniel
Posted by Rob Vetere, Engineer on team #177, Bobcat Robotics, from South WIndsor HS and UTC- International Fuel Cells and ONSI.
Posted on 5/1/99 11:46 AM MST
In Reply to: Oh! Different packaging? posted by Daniel on 5/1/99 10:13 AM MST:
: Wait, did you mean the exact same floppies or the same type of stuffed bags but just of a different shape? Because if you meant the second one, I may have to change my vote.
: -Daniel
I just meant some sort of floppy, not necessarily the same. And, FIRST has used balls almost every year, so there is no telling when they will duplicate. TowerPower and Hexagon Havic used the same small balls and the big balls from Hex.Hav. were the same as Ladder Logic, so who knows. But i bet a variation on this floppy will be what we see, maybe oversized beanbags?
Rob
Posted by Mike King, Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.
Posted on 5/2/99 7:52 AM MST
In Reply to: Re: Oh! Different packaging? posted by Rob Vetere on 5/1/99 11:46 AM MST:
This is how i see things as i remember them.
The balls from ladder logic and Hexagon Havoc were not the same size.
Neve Say Never. It’s not only possible for someone to build static harvaster/collector for floppies. We did it, and boy did it work great. (Hi remember us? Team #88 TJ² First Seed at Nationals?)
I’m Trying my hardest to get pictures up, but they never seem to make it to me so i can scan them.
I’ll have some up by the end of this week.
Mike
Posted by Bethany Dunning, Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.
Posted on 5/1/99 10:42 AM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
My vote - NERF anything.
: One of the teachers on our team has been waiting for F.I.R.S.T. to use footballs for the last 5 years. Will it be next year? Who knows? I think that it would be a good challenge. What do you guys think?
Posted by Andy Grady, Coach on team #42, P.A.R.T.S, from Alvirne High School and Daniel Webster College.
Posted on 5/1/99 6:53 PM MST
In Reply to: Dare I say Footballs? posted by Tom Lish on 4/30/99 5:38 PM MST:
Just to throw this one out, you want big, and you want odd, how bout this…
Does anyone know about those pogo ball things. They are a big rubber ball with a handle on it. Hmm, a handle, ball, big…First can’t be overlooking this thing. Of course i am still a huge fan of the football and want to see it next year. I also want to see a moving goal (similar to that of Hexagon Havoc) back next year. My final hope, I WANT RAMPS!!!
Cya all,
Andy Grady, DWC/Alvirne