So I just got our order of six notes delivered that were released the other day, and they are much more firm and the coating is noticeably different (more slick, less grippy) than than the six we ordered on kickoff and the one that came in the KOP.
What version of these things do we think we will actually get to use for games this season?
Whichever one you don’t plan for.
I will update once our notes arrive. I was fearful of discrepancies between first and future batches.
Might be the freshness of the notes. The previous ones were likely in storage and shipping containers for months.
When we purchased the notes from Gopher/Freedom Rider, we noticed that if you tried to squeeze the cross-section of the note it was firmer where the seam was. Is this what you mean by “more firm”?
The notes for the fields where probably ordered well before kickoff. So probably like the first batch?
I would expect the foam used for manufacturer doesn’t have a tight specification for mechanical properties.
It would be nice if FIRST could issue an official announcement on this, even though it seems likely that primarily the first order of notes will be used, we cant be sure.
The announcement would probably be that they may use either and teams should be prepared for a variety of note conditions.
They are more firm in the fact that if I squeeze as hard as I can they compress to be almost double the thickness of the old notes we got after kickoff. Seems like the foam is less air and more foam this round.
As a fun bonus the orange seems to come off on your hands just from handling them too, so I have a student that has orange fingers like he’s been eating Cheeto’s now.
Are they the same weight?
I don’t have a scale handy, and we actually never weighed out first batch.
My understanding of foam molding (from a prior, tangential experience with automotive seating) is the mixture is quickly sprayed within a mold that is then sealed and travels on a carousel before being released elsewhere. The spraying happens very fast, and as long as enough enters the mold, the correct form results. Automotive foam likely has far more stringent mechanical requirements (there are fascinating tests for durability of the foam bun and seat structure) and probably meters the mixture. For a schoolyard toy?
Weighing them would be informative as to whether it’s density or formulation. 4481 found very theirs had very little variance in the first batch, and ours measured similarly. AndyMark’s spec is 8.3oz +/- 0.2oz.
It would be helpful if FIRST can tell us whether all competition notes came from the same batch as the KOP and the ones we received from AndyMark after kickoff. Perhaps the observation that each color of note in the alternative rainbow set had different properties was foreshadowing of what we are now experiencing. I’m glad that we set aside 4 notes in mint condition.
Highly doubt the mechanical properties have a highly constrained range.
Mechanisms should be designed with this in mind.
The scale that I have access to from the chemistry lab is too low of a capacity to weigh the notes, I will try to grab a weight from the shipping scale after school lets out today.
Do we call these firm notes “forte” and the softer ones “piano”? Maybe this is the Crescendo they’ve been promising.
Considering we only got one out of the first batch…and even when we get to the events…we will adjust.
They don’t want to commit though. If they find that Notes are getting torn up on the field more than expected, they’ll use Notes from wherever they can get them for later events, regardless of their original plan (if there was one). They don’t want to risk getting into a situation where they don’t have enough Notes to run matches, and can’t use newer/older ones that are available because they promised they wouldn’t.
As long as they aren’t mixed because that would make tuning the shooter darn near impossible because you wouldn’t know which version you pick up
I have a feeling that FIRST will say something to the effect of, “These are notes manufactured for the 2024 season by official vendors. Variations occur, results may vary, robots must be built robustly.”