So we’re currently at the regional in Chesapeake, and we’ve noticed that FIRST is using two distinct types of foam balls: red inside (firm), and yellow inside (soft). This is wrecking havoc with many compression-based shooters, since the ball trajectory and total distance will change so much. We’ve been fine, since we have been able to shoot at the fender and minimize the variation, but many teams have had autonomous completely wrecked.
Does anybody know if these balls will be standardized sometime soon (by St. Louis at least)? I’m sure many other teams have this question too.
All the balls were all made in the same batch. I have not seen this and we have 25+ balls at our practice field. Only different between them are how much they have been used and the different compression, which as been already documented in many threads.
I have no idea what FIRST is thinking, but I would guess that they won’t change because it is a interesting difficulty for teams to deal with.
*note: I don’t know what they are thinking, this is just a personal opinion.
Our 30ish balls at home are also the same consistency, but at the regional there are very noticeable differences. I’ve felt them simply when I pick a ball up, since some are heavier and harder to squeeze.
Since there are some doubts, can some other team confirm if they noticed any differences? I may just be sleep deprived
The whole stiffness of the different balls has been documented in other threads already. But when it comes to a red and yellow inside that hasn’t been mentioned. Newer balls are gonna be that way. When they started to be used they even out a little, but that is a design challenge of this years game.
Our experience had to do with wear. Once the ball’s surface has been scuffed up a bit (enough that air can escape easily), the ball becomes far squishier.
In 2006, we had alliance partners asking to cherry-pick from all of our bins (that year, each alliance could load ten). Might be something to consider if you’re quick about it.
After comparing game pieces to each other when practicing last weekend, we were shown a significant weight difference in two balls that were being used and actually came like that right out of the bag. Obviously, if game pieces were not regulated before the event, any lower or higher weighted ball would certainly be in play. However, I do believe that there was only some slight differences in terms of scoring. If there is an odd man out, I would try and score it as quick as possible and if possible as well as not using it for autonomous/hybrid if your routine is hindered with the slightest amount of difference.
I specifically looked at Waterford after reading this Friday night, and I didn’t see any balls with a yellow inside - just red/pinkish/orangeish (depending on the lighting) ones. What you may have been seeing is the yellow foam that is directly under the orange outer material of the ball - it is a very thin cushion similar to the material under the fabric of 2009’s orbit balls. Occasionally the orange coating would be scraped off and some yellow would show, but any chunks out of the ball should show the pink.
New balls are definitely more firm than old balls.
From what I saw at Lake Superior regional the only difference in the balls were that some were beat up and torn a bit and some were basically new. Our team really did not mind at all since the only times our robot contacts the balls are at the start when we take 2 just to keep them off the CO-OP bridge and when we bump into them randomly since we are strictly defense/balance.
Team 23 didn’t look into it since there was nothing we could do about it to help our situation at the time, but we noticed that by the end of qualifiers in WPI almost none of the balls were the same size anymore. At the same time, however, there were some that still fit into our cannon like brand new despite being torn apart. Whether it be different balls or just being worn down at different rates we are not sure.
Unfortunately for our team, being driven by fan power on a shooter, that meant our scoring power was severely crippled. We went from being one of the best scorers in the early matches to being one of the worst by the end. Had it not been for our ability to balance, Team 23 would’ve been dead in the water.
This may have been what happened to us in Oregon yesterday. we had been making hybrid baskets very consistently all through saturday up until the finals. In match 1 of the finals, nothing was different and our alliance scored 30 points in hybrid. Then suddenly in match 2 our hybrid shots flew clear over the backboard, and in match 3 it was the same. we lost finals matches 2 and 3 each by 9 points.
In WPI’s case, the balls were not replaced until the elimination matches(long enough for our robot to struggle enough to fall out of the top 8). Once the balls were replaced we started scoring well again.
PS I do not want this to come off as a rant. I enjoyed my time at WPI tremendously and would recommend it to anyone, im just providing seemingly relevant info
I was told to replace balls with chunks missing from them. I believe that we also replaced a few that had evidently been through significant wear (lots of black streaks on the outside was a pretty good indicator). I’m sure that ball replacement standards will be different for every event, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
At Chesapeake we replaced balls that had chunks taken out of them, but were hesitant to replace ones that only had scuff marks. We replaced all of the balls (regardless of level of wear and tear) for the elimination matches though. I would assume replacing the balls then is standard procedure, but I would love for someone else to back me up on that.
