Abes plan to punch Platts.
Abe figured he covered all his bases. Go punch Platts then go back and scare away the skateboarders so they never wake up to go punch Platts.
But doesn't this cause a permanent set of doubles? Now the set that scares away the kids AND the set that stays asleep now exist without being able to close the loop.
I first thought that was a major oversight on their part, probably caused by lack of sleep and maybe some drinking the evening before.
On second viewing, I think it was more intentional, though extremely reckless, based on this conversation:
Aaron: Are the machines on?
Abe: Yeah.... I just got tired of the whole unanswerable question.
Aaron: Are we doing this as an experiment or are we doing this for me?
Abe: A little of both.
It seemed like Abe wanted to expand on his human lab rat experimentation. Aaron was willing to go along with it because he previously said that he didn't really believe in paradoxes and that they would work themselves out somehow.
So, Abe and Aaron get in the boxes at 3 am and go back to 5 pm. Abe's double sleeps through the night and goes to turn the boxes off at 5 am, then powers them back on later. Both doubles get in the boxes at 3 pm.
I wonder if Abe thought the two time loops would somehow get connected, or simply forgot that the boxes would be shut off in the morning?