Austin, this is actually Coyobot 11. You weren't around for Coyobot 10
Anyway, as some have suggested, the middle wheels are articulated primarily to assist driving over the bumps. They would be raised to facilitate this. But In this picture the middle wheels are lowered, which causes the robot to rear back. Obviously this violates bumper rules, etc. The plan was to climb up on the platform from the side via the bump. Climbing the platform was easy, turning on the bump to face the platform, not so much. Since the bump is such an awkward shape, the robot would often tip over when we tried to turn lengthwise on it. We only succeeded in making the turn a couple times during practise.