[robocup-small] Proposal for energy budget

[Patrick Dingle]

Look at these Nerf foam balls:

http://www.hasbro.com/pl/page.viewproduct/product_id.12866/dn/nerf/default.cfm

These are foam balls but I think they would work pretty well for SSL. I 
think they are more representative of real soccer for several reasons:
1. They would drastically reduce the speed that teams can kick them at. They 
are foam, so some energy will be absorbed within the ball (like in real 
soccer). Golf balls are designed specifically such that very little energy 
is absorbed within the ball!!
2. Air drag -- like in real soccer -- becomes significant.
3. "Dribbling" would become impossible... The foam balls have too much 
friction with the ground surface.
4. If these are the balls I used in my Nerf weapons when I was younger, then 
they are still very hard foam and would lead to some exciting games.

Something to look at and think about for future years.

Patrick Dingle
Cornell Big Red '03 '04


On 9/16/05, James Bruce <bruce at andrew.cmu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Michael Babish wrote:
> >>A lighter ball, unless it is really light like a balloon, will travel
> >>faster. It is also likely to be weaker and easily damaged by the
> >>contending robots.
> >
> > What about the small plastic ball used by the dog league?
> 
> Since CMU has an Aibo team, I can comment on this. Unfortunately using
> this ball isn't really even an option. The balls were custom made by
> Sony in 2000 and aren't being produced anymore. The dog league has been
> trying to find a new ball for the past two years, but hasn't found one
> that is better yet. New teams only get one ball, and broken ones are
> essentially irreplaceable.
> 
> That said, if anyone can find a similar ball you can buy now, I'm sure
> the dog league would be ecstatic about it.
> 
> > What about the real-sized soccer ball used by the mid-size league?
> 
> A size 5 (regular) ball is taller than the robot itself. Maybe someone
> here knows the smallest "real" soccer ball you can get.
> 
> > Personally, I don't like limiting the physical batteries. I'm not
> > convinced that it will solve the problems with overcrowding on the 
> field.
> > And I think it will introduce new problems.
> 
> Me either. I like the proposed "one battery pack per game" rule, but
> specifying a specific battery limits things without necessarily
> promoting team play. I also really dislike the idea of penalizing more
> onboard intelligence.
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