Legality of Downwards-Sloping Ramps

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Guys,
The downward sloping ramp is still manipulated by a minibot using energy stored in it's battery and converted to mechanical energy in the motors. While some will argue that there is an advantage here, I disagree. While it may be true that gravity will accelerate the minibot while traveling down the ramp, the motors will still have to overcome gravity on the way back up a slope and still travel a longer distance to do so. Add to this any increased friction as the minibot transitions from the down side to upside of the ramp and you will see that there is likely a net loss in energy during this time.
As to inspector involvement in this design, we simply inspect on the rules in the robot section not the game rules unless specifically directed by the GDC. The ramp needed to be constructed of allowed materials, exist entirely inside the bumper zone at the start of the match, be safe with no sharp edges, etc. It is the refs on the field who make the determination as to the legal use of such device that passed inspection. I think it is easy to realize that if the minibot deployment occurred within the correct time frame, these ramped designs would add feet to the travel distance encountered by the minibot.