Quote:
Originally Posted by joeojazz
Hello at our competition in Midland Michigan this week some robots came close to tipping us over in the playoffs. I was wondering if there were any rules preventing them from doing so, or if there was a penalty if they did.
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The key phrase here is really "came close to". There is no rule for "intent to tip, but didn't" or anything like that, and for good reason. It's just too easy for it to accidentally happen, and ideally both robots return to the ground without tipping in this situation.
In the course of a normal pushing match between robots with high traction wheels, especially with bumpers high above the drive line, momentary tips where one or both robots leave the ground for a fraction of a second are very normal. When this happens, the pushing driver should back off on the controls to prevent the robot from fully tipping and allowing it to come back down to the ground to rest. If this driver continues to push forward, particularly if they contact the bottom of the robot they are pushing, and then takes the robot off of their wheels, then it is possible that they will get the tipping penalty, depending on a variety of factors (how tippable the opposing robot is, when did the tipper robot back off, etc).