Quote:
Originally Posted by tindleroot
I've been noticing similar trends about defense (and maybe Karthik has too?).
As far as I've seen low, ranged shooting robots are going to be extremely common since those designs can easily cross the low bar and shoot in the high goal. However, there is an inherent flaw in that design in that given how long it takes vision (or manual alignment) to line up a shot, those robots can easily be blocked by a tall robot or by a pool noodle blocker. And, if a robot has a decent drivetrain but a poor scoring mechanism, they can play this role in a match and be extremely effective.
Winning in quals is more important than the other ranking points since winning is worth 2 RP, plus you deny the opponent 2 ranking points, which helps you advance farther than the competition. I can guarantee that any smart alliance will do their best to shut down a high-potential scoring robot if it is easy to stop them, as is the case with the low-shooting robots. This will happen in both quals and elims, and it will definitely happen if the team in question is high-ranked.
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I agree with this. I would add that I don't think defense is going to be as difficult to play as people think. The Refs have (at any competition i was at) emphasized exactly how pinning will be called and what to look for to avoid committing the foul. The only other penalty that defenders will have to look out for is G43;
ROBOTS on the same half of the FIELD as their ALLIANCE TOWER may not interfere withopponent ROBOTS attempting to traverse OUTER WORKS (regardless of direction). A ROBOT isconsidered traversing the opponent’s OUTER WORKS if any part of its BUMPERS are within theopponent’s OUTER WORKS and no part of it is in their opponent’s SECRET PASSAGE.
If defense is played between the outer works and the tower (which will be an effective spot to block low shooters and interfere with short range shooters attempting to reach the batter), it will be played 10-15 feet in front of the alliance station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acDqfZZLWV8 POV from a human player at a real field week zero if you want to see how easy it will be for drivers to see their robots. They should be able to see all the edges of the defenses marking the "safe zone". The vision advantage and the need to protect the secret passage from poaching should make a defense robot very powerful (if not required) in eliminations at most of the regionals and districts.