[M217]

Originally Posted by pandamonium

What do people think about a rule stating that 4th robots have to touch the carpet in eliminations?

I'd disagree with it. For one thing, it restrict's the alliance's capacity for strategy.
And for another thing, while it's true that the 4th robot can often bring something new and valuable to an alliance, there are also cases where the 4th bot is literally chosen a backup bot. If an alliance's 3rd pick is a batter scorer with a climber, it would make perfect sense for them to choose a 4th robot that's just a backup batter scorer in case #3 breaks down. People are free to make this decision, and it doesn't make sense for FIRST to force an alliance to field an inferior robot.