[artdutra04]

I still don't know why everyone is coming up with weird and complicated "solutions" to the no-show-robot issue.

The issue should be simple: a regardless of whether a team's robot is there or not, the trailer should still be there. Whether you think this is fair or not with the whole 3v2 alliance issue, this is the only solution that does not yield to strategies like purposely not putting your robot on the field to limit your opponent's scoring potential.

As for "possible damage" to the robotless trailer, I think most reports on the death of the trailers are greatly exaggerated. These things have [hopefully] been designed to withstand rigorous game play attached to robots. How would removing them from a robot magically eliminate their durability?

Might they tip over easier sans robot? Potentially. Might the ends of trailer hitch scrap the floor? Potentially. Is this solvable with a Delrin (or similar engineering plastic) plug stuck on the end? Yes.

If you really don't like the whole 3v2 issue, why not do something proactive about it? Before the matches start at every regional, all teams get a match list. And any team on top of their game will always go check out those teams well before their match to talk about strategy, make sure the other team's robots are operational, and help in any way.

At the very least, make sure all teams you play with have a drivable robot base with a trailer hitch. That may mean sending some students or mentors over to help them [re]build a drivetrain or fix their teleoperation/autonomous code. Whatever it takes. At least a drivable robot can move their trailer away from the human player at the start of the match.