Through out the year our team and many other have been having problems with ball variables. I have also talked to other teams that have been having this similar problem, do you think it will affect the championship on einstein. With the einstein field being brand new with brand new balls do you think this will result in lower scores? Let me know what you think?
I would hope that the teams planning on being on Einstein will have some sort of setting on their calibrations for “Brand New Balls”. But I think you’re right, it will negatively impact scores.
I don’t believe that the scores on Einstein will be lower because of the ball variables. I know that some of the top tier teams have shooters that rely so little on compression that it would be surprising if a new ball gives them so much trouble. For example, Team 16, who will probably be making an appearance on Einstein, have a catapult of holy accuracy. Catapults tend not to be so swayed by compression. Then there are the shooters like Team 1986 who, if I’ve been hearing right, only use about a quarter of an inch of compression. Which, in turn, you can get out of a new ball easily.
All in all, I don’t think that scores will be necessarily lower because of ball compression. However, with the state of defense that will probably be played, as well as only making shots when they’re absolutely sure they can make it (since balls scored are returned to the opponent) shooting may slow down somewhat. As well, the score might be lower due to teams devoting just a hair too much time to balancing.
For a good example (albeit rather saddening), watch the Michigan State Championships Finals Match 2 video for a low scoring final.
If the balls are all brand new, the scores should be good.
Shot repeatability is typically not a concern as long as the balls are close to each other in stiffness. Where teams have problems is when they start introducing new balls at the end of a competition, so you have a mix of brand new balls and very old balls. If every ball on Einstein is brand new, I think teams will roll their shooter calibration back to the “brand new” setting and everything is fine.
It is certainly not a problem to be ignored. New balls do behave differently in many ways. Most teams that have experienced elimination rounds as the 1 or 8 alliance got the best crack at new balls, and either learned how to deal with it, or didn’t advance. We have dealt with this issue in each of our previous two tournaments and have come across some very specific solutions that we will hapily share with our alliance partners.
PS: At the beginning of the season we saved back a half-dozen or so balls in pristine condition to observe and manage these differences. It’s nice to work with team members who have a great deal of forsight. 
I believe new balls have been introduced for the elimination rounds at most events, so most teams who played in eliminations should be already be aware of this issue.
While it is true that new balls behave differently I’m sure the teams that make it that far have figured out ways around those issues like our team did. Used balls are much more inconsistent the more they get played with because they get chewed up and have giant gashes in them causing weird trajectories.
I’m pretty sure we will be seeing some very high score on Einstein. Maybe not the highest of the season but they will be nothing to laugh at!
Shooting from half court?
Sure, the ball variations might matter.
But from our money shot touching below the key?
We don’t care and it doesn’t matter.
Backspin is everything. Teams that have none will have issues.
As has been stated before, new balls are generally introduced at the beginning of elims and I’m sure that the championships will do the same thing… so if teams have too many problems with brand new balls, they probably won’t be on Einstein!
Some teams with shooters might care about the condition of the balls… 
Out of all the balls we have, there were probably two balls–one that was just ridiculously soft and one that was, strangely, soft on only one side–that went far shorter than any others. The rest of them showed little difference. As mentioned earlier, shooters which have more compression on the ball may be more likely to suffer, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some teams actually find a way to account for firmness. It is Einstein, after all.
I’d be very surprised of an alliance doesn’t try a pure ball starvation strategy on Einstein… and is successful.
Particularly if it’s the alliance with the stronger hybrid, and the faster triple-balance.
Kind of hard to score a lot of points when there’s only 3 balls on the field…
You mean 1 ball!
At the granite state regional they put new balls in during eliminations and it really messed us up as we would shoot high so to fix this for championship we programmed a button on the controls to lower the speeds for the shooter.
18 balls - (3 x 3 alliance robots) - (2 x 3 human players) - (2 left on alliance bridge) = 1 ball.
Winning strategy. Score 48 in auto including co-op bridge, alliance shoots the 9 held balls with 35 seconds to spare for 27 more points, then spends last 30 seconds triple ballancing for 40 points.
Teleop is nearly a wash unless their is some ball stealing involved. Holding those balls right before the time when teams need to concentrate on the bridges could work.
I expect to see Titanium on Einstein play a 115+pt match.
Better start tracking OPRs for human players!
If this plays out, those starved balls need to be turned into human thrown buzzer beaters.
What a way to decide Einstein… if both alliances decide to starve.
Both triple balance, and there’s a wealth of balls in the hands of the human players with <30 seconds left…
P.S. I’ll never get any work done… this thread has made me revise my pre-scouting pick list AGAIN… Alliances running this strategy only need to shoot twice the entire match: once in hybrid, and once near the end of the match before triple balancing. Strong hybrid, excellent ball-pickup, steady high-percentage shooters immune to heavy defense, fast triple balancing, and a human player who can make shots.
I would have to say, that would be an uneventful Einstein if it were to happen, but this is the top level. Starving is expected to happen, but I would imagine an inbounder that is good at the cross barrier pass will be high in demand.
Why can there be only one ball on the alliance bridge? I see no reason why robots can’t “store” more balls on the alliance bridge… It may not be easy to do, but it is both legal and feasible.
Ball density certainly effects how it is thrown. But I think most Einstein bots will have ways to compensate for the balls. Lower scores will probably be due to the robots tiring out or stress on the drivers part.