[Andy A.]

I had a similar thought early on, but aside from climbing sequencing rules, the 54" cylinder rule makes this pretty difficult to do. A 30" wide ramp, about what you'd need to ensure the majority of robots could comfortably fit on a ramp, would end up being about a 33 degree incline if you don't have a flat 'landing' on top of the bot. That's pretty steep for FIRST.

Depending on the length of the ascending robot and it's bumper configuration it's likely that most 'bots would get hung up and be unable to proceed. You might be able to 'help' by driving your own robot into theirs, but it becomes pretty hairy for a lot of reasons. The ascending bot is now also at a very different arrival angle to the horizontal bar it'd presumably hang on. Will it's mechanism work with that different geometry? Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't want to bet on it.

Like I said, that's on top of rules regarding how a legal climb is preformed. It's a clever thought, but it seems like the climbing rules are designed to discourage/prevent it entirely. The intent is pretty clear- climb means climb, and there isn't any clear way to circumvent that.