[Ianworld]

I think herding will prove to be more of a hassle than its worth. All but the best herders will likely spend more time trying to herd and control a ball than to just run around the track a second time. Consider the time wasted by having to track down a ball that rolls around the side of a bot making a turn. Best case you back up and 4-5 seconds later have recovered the ball. Worst case you can't even back up because you've crossed a line and have to go around again anyways. A quick robot might make a lap in 10 seconds, lose the ball twice or badly once and you might as well go around again.

A hurdeler should have a good mechanism for grabbing and storing a ball already. It will definitely be more complicated but the payoff actually exists there. With a good storing mechanism or a strong grip, the team is less likely to lose the ball after it acquires it unlike herding. I doubt running around the track 5 times will be faster than getting the ball over the overpass once with a decent machine.

Just some food for thought. I'm sure there will be robots which herd nearly perfectly granting them effectively 2 bonus points each time they zip around the loop and all but a small number of hurdelers will be able to quickly acquire and store a ball for quick transport around the track.