What is everyone’s opinion on the purple reef element being PVC or metal pipe for practice fields? My gut says that if this fabricated in PVC it will not behave the same as the tournament field and teams will have difficulty in competition as a result.
Specifically, I’m thinking about mechanisms that are being tested to dislodge algae and that the PVC may flex enough in the horizontal plane to allow the spheres to roll off the frame while the steel reef may not behave the same way.
I’m not talking about if PVC tube can be used to accurately position, or replicate, placing a coral element with robot prototypes.
I saw that too and it makes me think two PVC columns with gussets will be unreliable for testing certain mechanisms in contrast to how the actual field will behave.
Who knows, for certain mechanisms, maybe it won’t make a bit of difference. I worry it’ll be like a backless amp/ speaker where you may not realize the game piece (note) is likely to bounce back out when striking the back.
