Tipping is now becoming as controversial as pinning. Back in 1996 even pinning was legal... If I remember right, my team won Rumble at the Rock that way. Our robot wasnt awesome that year... and we got the number one ranked team in the nation backed into a corner of the hexigon, and held them there for close to 45 seconds of the end of the match. I can remember getting boo'd... but it wasnt against the rules then... it was a viable strategy, and we won that way.
I have no problem with wedge bots. We thought about it ourselves, but didnt design for it. Its a great defense for other robots trying to push us over. For those who suggest making a stronger drivetrain, think about the tons of teams that do not have their own drivetrains... think of all the teams that used the kit drivetrains because they dont have the uber mechanical Paul's or John's on their team... Not all of us can just design a great drivetrain... but make a triangle? now there is something we can do!
As Doug H mentioned earlier... we were "tipped" by team 302 in the last qualifying match in cleveland... we turned right around and selected that team as our alliance partner because they played very smart defense, and their design was innovative and worked well. Teams (including ours) were scared to go near ramp bots, because of the chance of tipping... so all they had to do was sit in the right spot in the field (not even moving!) and it would be a huge defensive strategy. I think the smarter move is to try to design a robot that can right itself... rather than eliminate the wedges.
So I will go back a few years, does anyone remember
Clarkson's robot in 2003? They were basically a drivetrain with two GIANT wings... that were "ramps" that folded down to block the ENTIRE HDPE surface. Now that was a cool and innovative design. Were they meant to aggressively tip other robots? No! Did other robots try to get on the ramp, drive up on their wings and flip over?? Yes! How cool!
I really hope that FIRST does not start making rules on what you cannot do with your robot design... it will limit the creativity, and we will all end up with a robot out of a box. Remember those lego toys where you got the kit and built the ship that looked like the one on the box? It was cool.. but your ship looked JUST like everyone elses... I hope I never see that day in FIRST.