I’ve been around for a while and I know quite a bit of FIRST history. I was wondering if this years game had a ice or HDPE floor. What wheels would you use: tread, wheel diameter and why? Also, would teams move away from omni’s because too much traction wouldn’t be that BIG of deal like the past couple years. Imput would be great.
Preseason Preparation, the game hints always make me curious. :yikes:
:ahh:
Surface area really is useless on HDPE, so your wheel width doesn’t matter.
I want to say red linatex was the tread type that worked best on the HDPE in 2003.
Anybody ever tried Mecanums on HDPE? :yikes:
Link for it, i found some random sites?
I don’t think so. Mecanums became popular after 2004, when HDPE last made its appearance in a game.
Then again, it’s possible…
FN Sheppard
Brecoflex
Ice skates, you’ll be able to outrun all the other teams.
I would use some sort of gummy or rubber (like soft rubber) wheels.
(hey you never know with those type of wheels you might be able to do burnouts on HDPE)
Saw blades.
Isn’t that what Bond’s car used in Die another Day to get traction on the ice? Q knows how its done.
Whats HDPE?
Okay… I really like the saw blade idea, and will always cast my ballot in Q’s camp. But I doubt they’d make it through tech.
So although my fellow Canadians may strip me of my citizenship for letting out this little piece of information, nothing grips ice quite like broomball shoes. Bet you didn’t even know broomball was a sport. (Well, aside from those of you in the other snowy bits of the world.) Mind you, from my experience a key aspect of broomball involves beverages that would be out of place at an FRC competition… so my impression of the outstanding grip of broomball shoes may be… um… imprecise… at best.
On the other hand, Moon Boots (http://www.moon-boots.com/) also had very good grip on the ice. I had a pair back in the 80’s that not only kept my toes warm in -40 but almost never slipped. Of course, I doubt the ones they make now would be nearly as good. I’m getting old enough to start to be grumpy that way. 
Now someone just needs to wrap them around a set of AM or IFI traction wheels and the ice races are on!
Jason
P.S. HDPE = High Density PolyEthylene. Not so different from what 4L milk jugs (I guess gallon jugs for most of the CD community) are made from. A relatively low-fiction polymer (plastic) with almost a waxy finish, usually (but certainly not always) white in colour. It has a longer molecular chain than the Low Density Polyethylene in the milk jugs, and a higher tensile strength, but has a similar feel to it.
HDPE stands for High-Density Polyethylene. It is a hard plastic used for all sorts of things.
As mentioned in this thread FIRST has previously used ramps made of HDPE as obstacles. The diffuser panel for the 2007 light box was a sheet of HDPE if your team still has that sitting around the shop.
I would probably say ice is not a possibility, for two reasons.
First, maintenance between matches would be annoying. Zambonis?
Second, not all venues are capable of doing that. Also because of this, most off-season events wouldn’t happen.
Broomball… Like Curling?
Also, take some thick sheet metal, curv it around kitbot wheels, and sharpen them so that they are like ice blade “blades”. Maybe even for braking you can make them slide sideways and kick up all that ice…
…except they would prolly go with HDPE:ahh:
conveyor belts for traction,
luckily we are only miles from g&t conveyor systems (they make airline baggage handeling things)
We certainly know the idea has been floating around in the GDC’s heads for a few years:
Oh man, talk about putting images in my head!!
Most of all, I keep seeing Dave’s “Boot-Drive” robot that keeps showing up in his game animations. Every year a drive train like that hit’s our design considerations process. Every year we laugh, then move on to more serious concepts. Maybe this year we will consider it a bit more seriously. Hey, take a look at the new Vex leg wheels. It makes you really think:rolleyes:
Except played with a ball instead of a stone?
More like hockey played with brooms and a nice big ball (say, a little smaller than a playground ball). Oh, and you don’t wear ice skates. The groups I’ve played with used street shoes. Evidently, that isn’t the only way to do it.
