[EricH]

Originally Posted by ns3517

You only need 6" of bumpers on each side so depending on your drive train couldn't you still have a big portion of the center open to drive right over?

Actually, for practical purposes, you need 9" on each side of your volume (remember that bumpers are included in volume this year adds about 3" onto each side). That being said, the tall-class robots are going to have some trouble (and need precision driving), even in the wide configuration. The short-class robots will be OK from a bumper point of view, most likely--but then you have to factor in frame/intake design, which may or may not be conducive to driving over gears. I'd be inclined to say that for most fuel-type robots, driving right over a gear is probably going to be an exercise in futility; robots designed specifically for gear handling will be more able to deal with inadvertent gears in their path.

All this leaves out the refs' judgement calls, which are what really matter.