Is Defense Finally Viable

[Coin3]

With the limitation imposed by Rule R3-D I suppose it will be a matter of the defensive driver's skill versus the effectiveness/speed of the offensive robot's launcher. The only way for the goalie to defend is to quickly strafe to the position that the ball is being launched to in order to stop the ball with it's puny little 6 Dia. inch extension. If the defending robot is quite fast and has a skilled driver, then I'd say they'll have a good chance.

That said, there is still a lot of room in the high goals for the offense to aim at. I think the best way to counteract a good defense is to have a robot that can turn very quickly and then adjust the power of the launcher to account for the different angle.

I think that defense is definitely viable, and more teams should go for it this year. If we had a defensive robot on every alliance, it would make for much more exciting matches than the assembly line business that going for high points would bring.