After the awesome suction cup from last season, I’m sure 1771 has another innovative idea up their sleeve.
It does look rather innovative. 
?what is it?
Could it be an incomplete shooter wheel, cut to fit the profile of the balls?
Edit: That’s a Shopsmith Mark V, isn’t it? I haven’t seen another one for a long time…
thats what i was thinking but i wasn’t quite sure
Yes, Shopsmith Mark V
No, not anything to do with the shooter.
Is it the duct portion of a ducted fan? You guys seem to know what’s up when it comes to moving air.
a reaction wheel?
wheel for a belt system, contoured to funnels balls more?
Almost certainly not, IMHO. That looks like it’s made of a light foam (like insulation). In our testing/equations for reaction wheel, there’s no way you’d have enough weight from that.
Maybe- it doesn’t look hollowed out there, but that’s not to say it won’t be. My guess is a fitted shooter drive wheel, though.
I think some epoxy and fiberglass cloth will be applied to this. Then maybe it gets hollowed out. Still don’t have a clue what the result will be used for though.
whats that?
Whatever it is, I want one.
Right on the money! After removing the foam, lots of sanding and painting, it looks pretty good. Now we just have to mount the motors and propellers, and viola! A shrouded propeller! According to a paper written by NACA (the predecessor to NASA) in 1958, it should increase thrust and efficiency by 50% to 75%
Now fitting these things on the bot and within the weight budget, that may be a challenge…