Posted by rebecca at 02/22/2001 10:48 PM EST
Student on team #192, gunn robotics team, from gunn high school.
so a few days ago we were innocently playing around with our robot when…the pvc tower was catapulted off the ramp and shattered! a few of the joints became unglued and a few actually cracked. has anyone else experienced this?
what will this mean in a game?
becca
Posted by EddieMcD at 02/22/2001 11:10 PM EST
Student on team #121, Islanders, from Middletown High School and NUWC.
In Reply to: the goals shatter!?!
Posted by rebecca on 02/22/2001 10:48 PM EST:
If it happens in a real competition, it means FIRST built a really bad goal.
But seriously, I don’t think it would give you a DQ because that is something that is expected to happen, and if the goal breaks, it’s not your fault.
Posted by Ken Leung at 02/22/2001 11:52 PM EST
Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.
In Reply to: Re: the goals shatter!?!
Posted by EddieMcD on 02/22/2001 11:10 PM EST:
I blieve FIRST will still give DQ to any team who accidentally break the goals.
After all, no matter how weak the design of goals are, FIRST can still make the weakness a part of the competition.
If you didn’t design your robot to handle such fragile goals, then that’s not FIRST’s fault. By looking at the safety rules, I believe FIRST expect teams to not damage the playing field in any way.
Even when it is an accident, the decision is still up to the judges, not common opinion. And they are known to be harsh from time to time.
So… let’s just hope accidents don’t happen when your robot is in the match.
Posted by Mike Soukup at 02/23/2001 12:10 AM EST
Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling and Motorola.
In Reply to: tough luck
Posted by Ken Leung on 02/22/2001 11:52 PM EST:
I doubt the judges will DQ a team if they knock a goal over and it breaks. I remember during the kickoff, Dean rolled a goal down the ramp real fast & it fell down. He jokingly said “Gee…we never thought of that. It would be bad if your robot were under the goal.” So FIRST knows that goals will fall over. They’d better have a large reserve of goals.
I knocked our goal over & broke it once, and it fell over during our invite & broke again.
Posted by Raul at 02/23/2001 12:56 AM EST
Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.
In Reply to: tough luck
Posted by Ken Leung on 02/22/2001 11:52 PM EST:
I spoke to Eric (at FIRST) about this and he said that they tested the PVC goals by throwing them against the rails and they never broke.
PVC becomes brittle as it gets older. If your goals are breaking, chances are you are using old PVC or you screwed together the joints like we hastily did on one of our goals. Also, the joints, even when glued, are more brittle than the pipes themselves.
Raul
Posted by Joe Ross at 02/23/2001 4:29 AM EST
Engineer on team #330, Beach Bot, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA/JPL , J&F Machine, and Raytheon.
In Reply to: tough luck
Posted by Ken Leung on 02/22/2001 11:52 PM EST:
: I blieve FIRST will still give DQ to any team who accidentally break the goals.
I doubt it. The only experience that I have had with someone breaking a part of the playing field was in '99 at the San Jose regional. Gunn broke off the flag that was attached to the bar on the puck. I don’t think they were penalized for that.
I think it depends on what your intention is. If you were trying to tip one of the goals and it breaks, my guess is that you would be disqualified. If you just accidently push a goal off the bridge then I think you would be OK (except that you would score less points if you couldn’t use the broken goal)
Posted by Patrick Dingle at 02/23/2001 10:10 AM EST
Coach on team #639, Red B^2, from Ithaca High School and Cornell University.
In Reply to: Re: tough luck – i don’t think so
Posted by Joe Ross on 02/23/2001 4:29 AM EST:
In 1999 my old teams had lots of problems with the field. At the New England competition, whenever we would clamp onto the bar on the puck, and lift ourselves up, the weight of our robot would bend the pole. However, the problem wasn’t ours – the field wasn’t build to their specifications. Regardless, we weren’t awarded the multiplier when our robot failed to clear the ground by the necessary amount. Also, we managed to tear up the carpet a few times and put permanent marks on the polls. My point is: we were never penalized, since all this damage was caused unintentially. If the field fails (i.e. the goal breaks) I think it will be extremely unlikely for you to be penalized, unless you are trying to break the goal.
Patrick
: : I blieve FIRST will still give DQ to any team who accidentally break the goals.
: I doubt it. The only experience that I have had with someone breaking a part of the playing field was in '99 at the San Jose regional. Gunn broke off the flag that was attached to the bar on the puck. I don’t think they were penalized for that.
: I think it depends on what your intention is. If you were trying to tip one of the goals and it breaks, my guess is that you would be disqualified. If you just accidently push a goal off the bridge then I think you would be OK (except that you would score less points if you couldn’t use the broken goal)
Posted by Anton Abaya at 02/23/2001 12:30 AM EST
Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NONE AT THE MOMENT! :(.
In Reply to: the goals shatter!?!
Posted by rebecca on 02/22/2001 10:48 PM EST:
: so a few days ago we were innocently playing around with our robot when…the pvc tower was catapulted off the ramp and shattered! a few of the joints became unglued and a few actually cracked. has anyone else experienced this?
: what will this mean in a game?
: becca
or is the pvc ur buying the same stuff FIRST provides? i recall Dean saying something about the PVC pipes being differnt at kick off…then again my memory is fading.
well, i do know that the quincy fellows told me they’ve shattered theirs as well.
if first did design a bad goal, then kudos to them :).
-anton
Posted by EddieMcD at 02/23/2001 1:56 AM EST
Student on team #121, Islanders, from Middletown High School and NUWC.
In Reply to: isnt it a different type of PVC?
Posted by Anton Abaya on 02/23/2001 12:30 AM EST:
I don’t remember the goals shattering at Quincy.
Posted by Brian Papile at 02/23/2001 7:53 PM EST
Student on team #69, HYPER, from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.
In Reply to: Re: isnt it a different type of PVC?
Posted by EddieMcD on 02/23/2001 1:56 AM EST:
I am from Quincy. They didnt shatter during the scrimmage but we have had to re-glue and duct tape from it tipping over and cracking. So it is possible to crack that PVC hopefully FIRST has some good high quality PVC.
Well GG
This is my first time actually posting on here so you may see my name more than once.
Posted by Trevor at 02/23/2001 9:19 PM EST
Student on team #288, RoboDawgs, from Grandville High School and X-Rite & Delphi.
In Reply to: the goals shatter!?!
Posted by rebecca on 02/22/2001 10:48 PM EST:
We had that happen durring practice too, I think if it happens in a match, the match will continue
unless the goal is unuseable in which case there will be a rematch with a new goal.
Trevor
: so a few days ago we were innocently playing around with our robot when…the pvc tower was catapulted off the ramp and shattered! a few of the joints became unglued and a few actually cracked. has anyone else experienced this?
: what will this mean in a game?
: becca