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Unread 25-03-2010, 07:49
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GaryVoshol GaryVoshol is offline
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Re: Tipping opponents robots

Tipping is barely addressed in the rules.

Quote:
<G36> ROBOT to ROBOT Interaction - Strategies aimed solely at the destruction, damage, tipping over, or entanglement of ROBOTS are not in the spirit of the FRC and are not allowed. Violation: YELLOW CARD
I've highlighted the key words there. As a referee, I will never post how I would make a call. It would be a rare instance for me to even state to a team what I might call before I see a situation - I just don't like painting myself into corners like that. I will say that those 3 words are what most referees will be considering when deciding to apply this rule or not.

The only other reference to tipping is <G37-c-ii> where it says a tipped robot might be expected to be contacted outside the bumper zone.

However, contact and robot interaction are mentioned many times in the rules (not even including those rules regarding things like contacting the tower): <G28>, <G30>, <G32>, <G34>, <G35>, <G37>, <G38>, <G39>. Perhaps the most telling statement by the GDC regarding their intent for this game is found in the blue box following <G38>:
Quote:
ROBOTS should be designed to withstand the expected contact outside the BUMPER ZONE.
They expected robots would be contacted in a variety of situations, and didn't outlaw most of them.

Again, words like Strategy, Agressive and Intentional will come into any referee's decisionmaking process. We certainly would like to see a robot pull away when the opponent starts to tip. But that won't be the only consideration. And I would like to remind teams that what we see from the sideline and what you see from the endzone may be interpreted very differently.
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