[galewind]

Yellow carding, bumper zones, and contact rules, obviously can lead to a debate, as is evident, about whether or not FIRST is trying to prevent defensive play.

Points have been made about bumpers being a sign that FIRST does, in fact, want to see some good defensive play. I believe that this is definitely the case.

Sometimes, many of us forget about our rookie experience, or perhaps that one season where we didn't have a technical mentor to help us out, and so the machine was designed and built with nothing but hand tools. This can often lead to a machine that is unreliable at best.

FIRST knows that the challenge that they give us is HARD, and want to make it possible for all teams to participate, regardless of the resources available to them. Some teams come with modular drive systems that can be snapped out and snapped back into place, while others need to borrow a wrench to tighten their kitbot frame. Some teams can design and build robust, elaborate devices to elegantly accomplish the goals in the challenge, while for others, the challenge is getting a machine that can move, and do it in less than 120 lbs.

FIRST's decision to create and enforce bumper and collision rules allow less-advantaged teams to be both protected and give them the chance to try to be effective, while at the same time protecting the more advantaged teams from teams whose only recourse is to drive around as a box-on-wheels. I'm sure that FIRST knows that rules like these are difficult to enforce, and that their interpretation will be inconsistent. However, they are trying to send a message to teams that even if their arm breaks, or they couldn't build one due to time or financial limitations, their robots are legitimate and worthy of competing on the field. And by legitimizing defense, they are also trying to set boundaries on what is appropriate and what is not.

As per the "carding" system, while I believe that the warnings and disqualifications are appropriate, I am personally not a fan of the yellow flag stigma that allegedly sticks with the team for the remainder of the competition (I say allegedly because I didn't witness it at NJ or UTC). My major grief with it is that this could cause an unnecessary "branding" to a team that may have been involved in a non-deliberate situation, or perhaps a defensive move that may not have MEANT to have been catastrophic, but due to circumstances on the field or with the opposing machine, was.

Understandably, this is quite possibly why refs have actually been hesitant to hand them out, except under extreme circumstances.

Sorry, my post is all over the place -- it's been a LONG week (surprisingly one without a regional for me).