We pre-ordered the field for Over Under and set everything up this week. Yesterday we used a robot (pushbot) we assembled quickly just to test how difficult it will be to push the triballs under the goal. Turns out, it’s surprisingly easy.
However, one of the balls is already dented. I worry that this will be a trend throughout the season. The triballs seem incredibly easy to damage. Has anyone else noticed this yet?
Are event partners going to be expected to have extra triballs on hand and replace them throughout the season, or are we just going to play with dented and damaged triballs all year?
We dented ours at worlds by dropping it on the floor, but it was relatively easy to fix. We just pushed the areas around where the triball was dented to get rid of the dent. Seems to work well.
You can fix them by pumping them up with air pressure. The pneumatic tubes fit perfectly in the hole for the mold with a little Teflon tape, so just connect it to a reservoir and start pumping… Carefully!
Good luck and try not to aim it at anything breakable!
thank you for the help everyone, i got it back to normal with an air compressor and a really long, thin screwdriver through the mold hole. stopped trying to push the areas around it, as that just made it bigger, but maybe i was just pushing it the wrong way.
I dented one corner to see what happened. it dented I walked away for a bit, and came back to find the triball back to normal… Maybe you don’t need to go to extremes to get it back to shape .
time just made it get easier for mine as well, though I do expect this to be a minor issue in competition, which we as competitors should be expected to build around i guess?
just seems like questionable manufacturing/design to me
I gave the triball to my daughter, a former VRC competitor - her first impression was to use shape to position it from the top to right orientation. Like a pool ball setup triangle. That way it was in a known orientation. The rest would work out based on what you wanted to do with it.
Great insight!
So no worried if dip dipped in - it all can work well.
I saw the video, and I guess it looks like repairing dents is doable. Still, I worry that this is going to be a long-term problem. As the corner is dented and repaired, I’d bet the plastic will become a little weaker each time, eventually cracking or worse.
The fact that the net lifts is interesting. Meta might be to have alliance lift net and hold it down and have cata from other side score with match loads, or load lots of triballs into the net and flip it over at the end of the match to score.
Would it be legal to make a puncher for a shooting device with the possibility of the puncher damaging the tribals? It seems that something as simple as dropping the tribal can damage it so a puncher could probably dent it as well.
Please check the note in <SG5> about the legality of this strategy.
Note: Directly manipulating the net structure, such as lifting it from the field in an attempt to add or remove Triballs, could be considered a Violation of , , and/or at the Head Referee’s discretion.
Bold emphasis mine - pretty clear to me that the intent is NOT to allow this. However, unclear penalty for doing so?
I’d say that the usage of the words “could be considered a Violation of SG3, G7, and/or S2”, implies that as long as you keep Triballs in the field, don’t clamp onto the structure or entangle with it, and don’t damage the field, (I think there’s a typo as S1 makes more sense here than S2), you’d be allowed to lift the net. So if you had a flat piece of metal connected to piston that pushed up on the net to flip it over it should be legal. (You just have to be sure not to damage the net when it’s flipped).
From the understanding given of the rule . Q and A might change the addition or the note of how the rule is applied or ruled . However lifting the net is not in the spirit of the game , but also lifting the net if your alliance were to win the match then that would be match affecting which could result in a DQ based of the note . As well if the net were to be entangled on another robot . For example if the net were to drop on blue if your on red alliance red would get a DQ and if blue becomes entangled then both robots would be Disabled.
This (to me) is a clear rule violation. The penalty is also clear.
Follow the flowchart on page 12 of the manual for major vs. minor violation. If a team intentionally lifts the net, scores triballs and its match affecting, it’s a major violation which leads to disqualification.
I walked away for a bit, and came back to find the triball back to normal… Maybe you don’t need to go to extremes to get it back to shape .