"Painting" on the field
 

When our robot turns it leaves sort of "drift marks" on the field.
Is it legal?

Re: "Painting" on the field
 

I think it is illegal. Sorry. One of the rules states, and i am paraphrasing, the robot cannot do anything that damages or alters the field in anyway

Re: "Painting" on the field
 

You need to figure out if you are damaging the carpet or leaving any residue behind. If your marks just come from changing the angle of the fibers in the carpet so they reflect light differently (kind of like you see with the rolled grass patterns on baseball fields) then you are probably fine.

If you are leaving a trail of burned rubber and molten carpet in your path you should consider changing something.

Check for tears or fibers in the carpet that are pulled out. Also be sure you are not leaving peices of your wheels behind. Those are the kinds of things that will make your inspection difficult.

Good luck!

Rob

Re: "Painting" on the field
 

Roy,
Is the residue that same color as your wheels or are you merely rubbing off surface contamination?

Re: "Painting" on the field
 

Just to add to the discussion a bit, some carpet damage over the course of a regional from robots tipping, hard defense, etc... I don't think I've ever been to an event where the carpet didn't have a scrape or ten on it by the end of eliminations.

But, if the Damage is ruled as intentional, or due to the design of your robot you probably will not pass inspection or you will be carded sometime during your event. I'd say that leaving skid marks on the carpet under normal conditions is illegal.