Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bishop
In this year's game defense, compared to the year's before, was much more subtle. This year defense consisted of knocking opponents ball's down, delaying other teams from hurdling, knocking balls away from and out of opponents possession, protecting balls on the rack in the end game (sometimes by pushing, sometimes by sitting there), among other strategies. Vigorous interaction should be expected, designed for, and played. This is also fine, it's part of the game.
|
I may have overstated my position on defense. The strategies mentioned above are all legal, and I don't have a problem with them as far as they go. However, I saw much more aggressive defensive strategies, one particular incident stands out (because it happened to us). A team rammed our bot while it was attempting to knock a ball from the overpass, causing the bot to tilt and lift it's wheels from the ground, they then backed up a few feet and waited. Every time the bot was able to disengage from the overpass, they ran forward again, ramming the bot and entangling it in the overpass. This was repeated no less than 3 times. The other bot never attempted to score during the match, it merely sat and waited for our bot to free itself from the overpass. To me, this is a blatant violation of <G37>
Quote:
|
<G37> ROBOT to ROBOT Interaction - Strategies aimed solely at the destruction, damage, tipping over, or entanglement of ROBOTS are not in the spirit of the FIRST Robotics Competition and are not allowed. In all cases involving ROBOT-to-ROBOT contact, the TEAM may receive a PENALTY and/or their ROBOT may be disqualified if the interaction is inappropriate or excessive.
|
The worst part about this particular instance is that it was totally unnecessary. At the outset of the match, our alliance partner broke a drive chain and was disabled, so the chances of our alliance winning were slim to none anyway, but it really frustrated the members of the drive team.