Throwing the game.

[JesseK]

Maybe my hand slips and hits the offending bot's E-stop. Maybe.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Maybe my hand slips and hits the offending bot's E-stop. Maybe.

:-) I know I can be clumsy that way.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Maybe my hand slips and hits the offending bot's E-stop. Maybe.

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

:-) I know I can be clumsy that way.

I almost made a comment about how coaches are not allowed to touch the controls. However, after searching the manual, I cannot find a 2015 rule that says so.

Slap away!

[Logan Byers]

Sorry Taylor, coaches still should not touch controls.

"G32: During a MATCH, the ROBOT shall be operated solely by the DRIVERS and/or HUMAN PLAYERS of that Team.
VIOLATION: Offending ROBOT will be DISABLED."

[Taylor]

That's what I get for just searching "coach"

[JesseK]

Does E-stop count as robot operation? The point of E-stop is quite the opposite.

I know one year at a Regional driver's meeting someone asked if the coach could hit E-stop, and the reply was 'yes'. I don't know if that was explicitly stated in the rules or in a Q&A that year, however.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Logan Byers

Sorry Taylor, coaches still should not touch controls.

"G32: During a MATCH, the ROBOT shall be operated solely by the DRIVERS and/or HUMAN PLAYERS of that Team.
VIOLATION: Offending ROBOT will be DISABLED."

I would think that the E-stop is not controlling the robot. It just shuts it off. Rule layering, maybe? NAW!! I just tripped...

[RallyJeff]

Originally Posted by defied

G15 says in violation there will be a firm talking to, and potentially a yellow or red card if it happens again. As this tactic would be most effective towards the last qualifying rounds, it really doesn't matter.

That's not correct. The penalties specified for violating G15 include a potential red or yellow card for repeated or egregious violations. Without speaking to the specific scenario you described, a violation of G15 that was bad enough could result in a red card on the first offense. Also, 5.5.4 allows the head ref to issue red or yellow cards for egregious actions that violate the mission of FIRST but aren't captured in other rules.

[Whippet]

That's funny, I can't find any specific rules governing the use of the E-Stop button this year. Maybe they intended the button to be usable by anyone who thought ROBOT operation to be unsafe this year.

[The_ShamWOW88]

What happened to just competing to the best of your abilities and trying to score as much as possible?

Why can't Team B show why they're a good robot by scoring as much as possible?

If Team A is good, why wouldn't B want to show them why they're a good alliance partner, possibly hoping for a pick in alliance selections?

[RunawayEngineer]

Originally Posted by ScottOliveira

I would strongly disagree, if anything I would believe sabotage would be far easier this year than previously (not that I advocate that strategy). While points are averaged, it is very easy to knock over a few 3-4 tote + container stacks and take out a hundred points or more (easily potentially dropping their average score by 10% or more if you are looking to effect a dramatic change). And the larger number of discrete ranking levels means it can be easier to knock a (perhaps threatening) team down (possibly out of a captainship) while maintaining your own position.

If you wanted to sabotage an alliance partner without incurring penalties:
Before, you could sit on the field and likely determine a loss for your alliance, strongly affecting the ranking of your partners. If necessary, you had plenty of options to actively sabotage to ensure that your opponent's score is 1 point higher.
This year, you have no choice but to actively sabotage to significantly reduce your alliance's score, which only affects ranking in the case that your alliance partner is being closely followed by the next highest.
There's nothing that makes this year more susceptible to sabotage, only less.

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by Logan Byers

Sorry Taylor, coaches still should not touch controls.

"G32: During a MATCH, the ROBOT shall be operated solely by the DRIVERS and/or HUMAN PLAYERS of that Team.
VIOLATION: Offending ROBOT will be DISABLED."

Going to have to call it "stoperating" and that differs from "operating"

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Abhishek R

...if my team found out a team was throwing matches, we would 100% blacklist them immediately.

In this particular scenario, whether or not the action was done on purpose is almost irrelevant. A team with a habit of accidentally knocking over stacks isn't going to be highly thought of by other teams' scouts.

[IronicDeadBird]

The drive team I work with is aware of this.
The performance they have at competition is what it is as long as they try.
If they fail in a critical situation as long as they try the hardest I will stand up with them and fight tooth and nail for them. The first person someone needs to get through to criticize there performance when they do their best is me.
Throwing on the other hand, is not trying your best...