http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/projectile-motion-primer-for-first-robotics
Wired Magazine’s Dot Physics blog has posted an article for FIRSTers trying to launch the basketballs. Could be helpful - I don’t think it’s been on CD yet.
This is very interesting, though I must note that his estimation of .5 kg for the mass of the ball is a bit off. The mass of the ball is closer to .3kg, so it would be reasonable to expect slightly more variation in the air drag vs no air drag distances.
This is the same physicist that helped me in the thread I started about basketball physics a day after the competition details were announced - he is a great guy!
-Mike