Ok, does anybody know what the game floors actual technical name is and/or where (if possible) can you get some, or know of any place that you can go to and use a floor of similar characteristics
The majority of the CRATER is covered by a 24-foot by 50-foot surface known as the “REGOLITH.” The REGOLITH is made of “Glasliner FRPtm” gel-coated, fiberglass-reinforced, polymer material. This forms a tough, rigid surface that has been specifically selected to have a low coefficient of friction with the acetal-treaded ROVER WHEELS used by the ROBOTS.
From Section 6 of the manual.
do u have any idea where we can get regolith or something like it for a mock up crater?
how can we drive on this without crashing?
Very carefully. Sorry, but you’re just going to have to be very careful.
Crashing is inevitable. However, lower friction reduces chance for damage. Instead of holding its ground and crunching, it slides out of the way. That’s why the rules are more lenient.
The manual indicates that it’s supposed to be the Gel-Coated Glasliner FRP (which is smooth), but pictures from the kickoff event show the floor being the pebble-textured Glasliner FRP. I assume the actual material used at kickoff was correct, but you know what they say about assuming things…
Menards sells this very simmilar FRP panel by the paneling I believe the current cost (West Michigan) is something close to $27 for a 4X8 sheet.
-Mike AA
…or about $1500 to cover a full field… ouch.
We picked up 2 sheets already for about $30 each.
Also worthy of note is the coefficients of friction listed in the manual
Inline, static: 0.06
Inline, dynamic: 0.05
Transverse, static: 0.14
Transverse, dynamic: 0.10
this means that it takes something like 10 seconds to cross the field at the very best. (Force of friction=force exerted on robot sideways, max acceleration = gmu, mu inline static=.06, thus gmu=.588 m/s^2)
The floor looks like the fake ice I’ve seen at some hockey camps.
A few years ago I had a couple sheets of it to work on my goalie training.
Sadly the place I got it from is no longer in business and I don’t remember the exact name of it but I’ve seen similar stuff at Hockey Giant for about $30 per 4x8 sheet.
-p 
I have to ask this, the rules state that we can buy and use additional official 2009 first wheels. I suggested that making a bot with multiple wheels (12 wheeled beast) would give us an edge however someone said that it would just redistribute the weight.
What I’m asking is (to someone who knows more physics) will more wheels (more surface area) give any real increase in traction? If so (or not) how is this calculated?
Thanks,
-Cody
Frictional force is completely independent of surface area.
Maximum frictional force is simply the weight of the robot times the coefficient of friction. Ff = u*Fn
So make you bot as close to 120 lbs as possible and don’t worry about surface area. Hummmm…
… or, to put it differently … you can decide to put 1/4 of your weight on each of 4 wheels, or you can put 1/12 of your weight on each of 12 wheels.
… but if you aren’t driving all 12 of the wheels, your net amount of force that turns into robot locomotion is cut waaaay back.
From looking at the rules and the video we think its the “Glasliner FRP”
but the bumpy or “rippled” kind.
In 10.2.4.1 the rules say “The wheels supplied in the 2009 KOP are very different from previous years’ kit wheels. The tread material is Celcon M90, and has the following coefficients of friction on white, rippled fiberglass plastic sheet” then states the coefficents.
haven’t found a dealer forsure yet but there are places in the states that sell it. dont no about prices yet. any one no where to buy?
we know** its “Glasliner FRP”.
The floor material is a thin laminate pretty much exactly like the one you find on the walls of communal showers or in the kitchen or bathroom of a taco bell, the slightly bumpy white plastic stuff on the walls.
We found this stuff at our local Lowes (nice when your building materials are 1/2 mile from your shop) for about $28 per 4x8’ sheet if I remember correctly.
-q
Classic model for friction does not depend on surface area.
maximum friction force F is given by the equation:
F=u*N
where u is the coefficient of friction between the two objects and N is the normal force between them.
in our case the net force that the floor is applying to the robot (the normal force) is the weight of the robot.
so:
F=u*W in our case.
so as you can classic friction does not depend on surface area.
if you were to model each wheel individually you would get a lower normal force (roughly the weight of the robot divided by the number of wheels) on each wheel so that N=W/n (W=total weight, n=number of wheels.)
so the force from each wheel would be F’=u*W/N
and we have n wheels so we get a total force of: F=F’n=nuw/n=uW
magic! 
classic theory of friction breaks down in a lot of cases (for example spikes on a carpet), but should be very close to the reality in this year’s game.
-Leav
Also…will adding a lot of weight really help you stop and move easier. I mean yes you will get more force from friction but what about F=ma. You will need more force to slow yourself down as well so having more weight wouldn’t really do you as much good would it???