Re: Defensive Strategies
 

Well that IS an interesting strategy. There IS precedent for an FRC bot to lack a mobility system (see 2007, and the sitting ramp-bot, sorry dont recall a team number but there WAS a pic on CD)

You might even be able to build a hopper with simple shooter that your descorer dumps the balls into to be able to use them.

IF you could make your descoring mech VERY functional, it might work.

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

Maybe I'm just not that creative, but I don't see how it is possible to extend any kind of cap over the trailer, even half way.

A. You can't extend outside your footprint.
B. The Trailer can't be tipped.
C. The Trailer has to be attached on the outside (convex or flat) of your robot, with a 10" tongue, in a way that the tongue will not touch your bumber while driving...

I suppose that a very short robot might be able to extend backwards to some degree, but a 10" tongue + half the length of the trailer actually seems to be *impossible* to me.

Am I missing something really key here?

Patrick

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

Firstly, vaguely restricting the motion of an object isn't "attaching" to it. Apply that definition to robots, and pinning a robot would suddenly count as attaching to it. It's more on the lines of entanglement, which is judged case-by-case, and you have to actually end up caught up with the trailer.

Secondly, if the GDC restricts this by the contact outside the bumper zone rule, it simply makes it slightly more tricky. Remember that you're descoring on a trailer attached to one of your partners. They have a vested interest in not screwing you up. Also remember that a robot can not be forced into a penalty by an opposing robot. If an opponent is trying to stop you from descoring and this causes you to violate a rule, you shouldn't be penalized.

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

True!
True!
True!
Not necessarily!Yep! Here's an idea: try drawing the footprint within which you have to work (since that is your limitation), then include the portion of the trailer that you'd like to defend, then see if you can design a robot around what remains.

It's certainly possible. The only questions I have is;

1) Will FIRST allow a bot to goaltend in this way, and
2) Is incidental contact with the PVC bars of your own trailer (as in, not grappling or attaching to or climbing on, just occasionally touching or bouncing off with part of your robot) allowed?

I have to imagine #2 is going to be allowed, because there are going to be plenty of dumpers that engage in incidental contact when they pass balls into the opposing trailers. The real question is #1, because that's a conceptual question of how GDC wants this game to be played.

Also, where is everyone getting a 10" tongue from? Our mech team built one with a 14" trailer swearing it is correct from the drawings. Did they misread something?

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

An idea my team had that was initially a joke (and still kinda is) was the idea of camoflage. What the concept is is that the robot is built to look exactly like the trailer. That way, the other teams would not know the trailer from the robot. But what would be needed to fool the other teams is having multiple trailer/robots. Having one, you would still be able to distinguish the robot from the trailer.

This could turn out to be a good idea, mabye not.
My team is still in the designing stage.

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

Actually that thought gives me an idea.
Looking through the manual, there are no rules against making your robot look like a field element.
I'm not thinking about the trailer though. I'm thinking about the foam cylinders on top marking alliances. Several teams, my own included, plan on using the camera to track and target other teams by their alliance indicators. Any teams who build their own dummy indicators would likely be able to fool most robots and mess with their targeting.
It would be very unGP to do something like this still. I will probably ask this in the Q&A because I wouldn't want to see teams doing something like this.

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

I believe that <R2> makes that illegal

Re: Defensive Strategies
 

Ah, you definitely got me there. :o
Back to reading the manual!