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Originally Posted by Paul Copioli
I challenge the point that covering can be seen better by the drive team. How does one come to that conclusion? I can see the robot BASE covering from 20 to 30 feet away. A ref will be right there.
During drive practice last night, we parcticed touching with our wheels. While the drive team had no problem touching, I had a heck of a time seeing if they touched. It was much, much, much, much (you get the point) easier to see if the drive base was over.
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....and there it is. I can't see how FIRST can ultimately come to any conclusion other than what Paul has suggested. Given the fact that many bots have heavily obscurred wheels, telling refs that they must determine each time a tetra is picked up whether or not a part of the bot is actually touching the triangle is just ridiculous. Even Dan Swando, who has the super-human ability to slow down time and zoom in with his telescoping eyes, has admitted that this would be a tough judgement for any ref to make. The drive base should have to clearly cover the triangle, not neccessarily touch it. As far as some concerns I've heard regarding bots that fold out and cover a larger space, I think a fair ruling would be to say that what constitutes the "drive base" can only be as large as the original 28 x 38 in. starting size. Any part of the bot that subsequently folds out or expands would not count and would not be able to "cover" the loading zone.
Gotta show a little support for the Copiolster ;-)