Will this year's game be a war of attrition?

[martin417]

As I look at posted robot pictures, I begin to worry about robot longevity this year. The parts provided in the KOP, if used as-is, will produce a ~16 FPS robot. I see that most teams are gearing for around that same speed, either using shifting transmissions or the KOP parts. In the past, kit-bots, and most non kit bots have been geared for between 9 and 12 fps. In other words the robots will be very fast this year.

Defense near the home zone will be dangerous due to team update #6, so expect VIGOROUS defense around midfield.

Team update #9 adds:

High speed accidental collisions may occur during the MATCH and are an expected part of LOGO MOTION™. ROBOTS place mechanisms outside of the BUMPER PERIMETER at their own risk; no penalties will be assigned for contact between two such extended mechanisms.

Most of the robot pictures I have seen posted show mechanisms outside the frame perimeter. By the end of any given regional, I would not be surprised to see a significant proportion of those robots with no usable manipulator.

Team updtae #9 also added:

A ROBOT with a mechanism outside of its BUMPER PERIMETER may be penalized under this rule if it appears they are using that MECHANISM to purposefully contact another ROBOT inside its FRAME PERIMETER. Regardless of intent, a ROBOT with a MECHANISM outside its BUMPER PERIMETER that causes damage to another ROBOT inside of its FRAME PERIMETER will be penalized.
Repeated or egregious violations of this rule will earn the offending ROBOT a YELLOW CARD.

This is one of the reasons our team probably will not attempt to pick up a tube from the floor. As it now stands, no part of our robot ever extends outside the frame perimeter. (except during end-game)

In the finals, it may turn out that the last robot still working is the winner.

I'm not Car Nack, but I am hereby predicting mayhem.