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Originally Posted by Section 5.2.5 Design and Build Rules
<R10> Teams are expected to design and build robots to withstand vigorous interaction with other robots. See The Game section of the manual.
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I think inclined planes (wedges) fit right in here. As I see it there are three ways of dealing with "vigorous interaction". One may let the other guy do what he wants and stay out of his way; stand up to the other guy and take the hit head on and hope you survive the impact; or stand up to the other guy but deflect his charge in such a way that it acts to his determent.
In every 2v2 game I have seen in FIRST, a key metric has been the degree to which one can maneuver in the presence of direct opposition (the proverbial pushing match / tug'o'war / carpet melter). This is why we see FIRST robots with six-motor drive trains that shift on the fly into ultra low gear. This is why we continue to strive for wheels or tracks with the best friction properties vs carpet and HDPE.
As long as there are going to be two other robots with a vested interest in preventing your robot from doing what you want, FIRST competitions will continue to be dressed up tractor pulls. As teams strive to keep a competitive edge in this regard they will all eventually run into certain barriers, i.e. the physical laws that govern our reality and the constraints set forth by FIRST. Once we've all maxed out our mu and squeezed every bit of power out of the kit motors, the only place left to go is, quite literally, up.
We'll go from tractor pull bots to sumo bots. Some teams are already on the way. It's not good. It's not bad. It's not ungracious. It's competition. It's invention. It's engineering. Teams are seeking the best solution within the constraints of the problem.
That's the way I see it.
-Joel