Re: "assisted" balance
 

A third robot can still assist balancing for two other robots, though, based on these rules.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

"A Bridge will count as Balanced if it is within 5° of horizontal and any Robots touching it are fully supported by it." -- Team Update 1

So the third bot cannot help with balancing the bridge (unless it is doing so without touching the bridge i.e. telepathically ;) ).

EDIT: Referenced the quote as coming from the team update.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

Oh, wow, you're right. I totally misread that.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

Can you reference the manual?

"A Bridge will count as Balanced if it is within 5° of horizontal and any Robots touching it are fully supported by it."

Mine does not state those words together.....

Re: "assisted" balance
 

but in coopertition points could you grasp an opposing robot

Re: "assisted" balance
 

The first Team Update was released today. In the past they have been released on Tuesdays and Fridays by ~5:00pm Eastern.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

I think that even another robot on the ground would qualify as "support" so they pretty much killed all hope of getting around the rule with the last update.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

Not entirely accurate. The rule concerning contact with an opponent robot, <G27>, states: "Deliberate or damaging contact with an opponent Robot inside its Frame Perimeter is not allowed." <G26> may also apply in some situations: "Strategies aimed at the destruction, attachment, damage, tipping or entanglement of Robots are not in the spirit of
the FRC and are not allowed."

Thus if you contacted the opposing robot outside of its frame perimeter (say, its bumpers) in a way not aimed at the destruction, attachment, damage, tipping or entanglement of any robot, you may well be legal.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

The kick off video shows bots grabbing each other when balancing 3 bots on a bridge. The trick is going to figure out - in advance - how to hold onto the other bot. Unless grab points are defined in advance, how can you plan for grabbing?

When you are balancing 2 bots on a bridge, there is enough room that you do not need to touch the other bot.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

The video is never a reliable source. They also have the robots holding basketballs and using them to balance, clearly in violation of [G14].

Re: "assisted" balance
 

So you can incur the technical-foul by touching your opponent's bridge WITHOUT interfering with balancing (so no red card and it doesn't count). Then, a Robot touching it won't be fully supported and they'll lose the 10-20 points.

Although I guess that "the act of balancing" refers to that technically as well.

Re: "assisted" balance
 

Note that outside-the-frame perimeter grabbing for coopertition purposes appears to have been made legal by Team Update 2. <G26> now does not apply for this situation, as it reads:
Bumper it up! ;)