[FRC Blog] Rogue Robots

[Andy A.]

Originally Posted by EricH

I have, but BEFORE the panels. In 2003, there were no panels. A team hung a left off of the ramp at a West Coast* regional in auto (in practice rounds) and was under the bleachers before someone E-stopped them.

And the panels are secured with zip ties. We lost one in San Diego; field fault was declared and the match was replayed.


*Well, close enough for those of you on the East Coast. It was actually in Arizona.

Weird. In my mind the panels have always been there. It's all become a big blur.

Anyways, I took a quick look at the field drawings. There's about a 14.25" gap between the bottom of the aluminum tube that makes up the top of the barrier and the top of the angle that makes up the bottom. The angle is a 3 inch leg, and there's what I think is 72 inches between uprights give or take.

Basically, a lot of teams made robots perfectly sized to slip through that space and drive trains that'll pop over that angle like it's not there. The field barrier just looks like another defense to a robot in auto mode.