hmmm well, if the title was 2006 kit of parts it would be very ovious giveaway and people would be looking for 2006 stuff on websites 
i think maybe we have to push heavy boxes up a hill or something this year… we all know its gona be squares.
Did John just drop a hint!!!
Yippee! Someone else that can have their every word over-analyzed, mis-read, inverted, converted, perverted, misinterpreted, reverted, and garbled besides just me!
OK, now on three, everyone go back through every post John has made in the last seventeen months, and you will find clues to at least half of the upcoming game. Ready - 1 - 2 - 3!!! 
-dave
??? The wheels are delivered without the tread attached?
The wheels come unassembled, as a kit.
The tread will be cut to length, and included in the kit.
We did this to:
- Make packaging/shipping easier.
- Reduce Labor Costs
We figured, teams have lots of cheap labor they can use. These wheels are simple enough that anyone can build them.
Are you referring to the S.P.A.M. sweat shops again? Am I going to have to send Arefin over to “discuss” this with you?
Guess who’s wheel this is from 2005 competition?
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/pics/bin/113397174722.jpg
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/pics/bin/113397183997.jpg
Is the outside ring sheet-metal as well?
Or is it a tube, cut to width?
The outside ring is made of stacked sheet metal rings. You may want to try that.
Does anyone want to see [somewhat] destructive testing of the new IFI wheels? 
http://www.vexlabs.com/video/IFI-Wheel_test.wmv
EDIT: I thought I was the first person to find the video on VexLabs, but Adrienne E. had posted it in this thread last night. :o
Wait…so does that means that the hint is true? Or maybe this is a hint in and of itself.
The 2006 game will obviously have some sort of countdown. And there’s also going to be some kind of ambiguity to the game. I suspect some sort of non-rigid, possibly fluid scoring object.
Countdown… ohhh that’s unheard of…
I am sure that Dave is just playing games with us… Games that might be true… :eek:
Actually, it’s not. In 2001 a game called Diabolical Dynamics was played in which the game was 4v0. By ending the match early, you recieved a multiplier to your score.
Oh and uh, sweet wheels!
I really liked the idea of the game with the balancing ramp(was it diabolical dynamics?). It was a task a little more intensive than just hanging: you actually had to balance the thing. Sensors did not need to be employed, but they made the game easier. A physics challenge that was challenging! Now if we can only get a three team ramp…
Ooooh, prices, specs, pictures galore now posted!
It sounds cool… until you realize that it was 4v0.
It was fairly interesting from a competitor’s standpoint, just to see who could set the highest score.
It was pure hell to watch as a spectator without prior knowledge of the game.
And the elims were for the most part already decided as soon as the match pairings were released.
robot-robot interaction is WAY more exciting.
Back to the wheels…
Not a bad price for what you get.
Nice work IFI. We may see these wheels on a lot of bots in 2006.
You always need more traction. The question is, will we be able to use it?
Yeah, I guess the fact that I was a 11 year old kid kid who couldn’t even get his lego robot to compete had a lot to do with my perception of the competition.
I am looking forward to a drivetrain intensive year. It seemed as though this year, because of the field, there were the teams, then the teams with the holonomic drives. They were cool, but it wasn’t real diverse.
These wheels look amazing. I’m big on reducing weight, and these wheels are way lighter than anything we could manufacture on our own. These are definitely a product we’ll be considering after we see the game rules.
As for these wheels being placed in the kit, I’m leaning towards no. Talking to John, it seems like IFI just got in the tooling they need for the bearing holes. It seems a little late in the game to put something into production for 1150 teams, for the KOP. Especially since I believe the kits are being shipped relatively soon. I highly doubt these wheels will be in there.