paper: Stop the Stop Build

[nuclearnerd]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Originally Posted by Joe G. View Post
Which brings up the logical questions: What stops teams, many of whom are already building multiple robots, from bringing in pre-built "Cake-bots," ready to roll as-is with different team numbers slapped on (or Cake-tops that can bolt on top of a kitbot, if FIRST adopts VRC-style definition of a robot)? ...

Hopefully, ethical sense on the part of both hypothetical teams?

I don't see this as ever becoming widespread as I don't think there are that many teams who would ever consider this as an acceptable way to participate in FRC, especially on the part of the receiving team.

From my own competition experience:

• In 2014 your alliance would be seriously improved if your third pick robot could be fitted with a trampoline for quick inbound bounce passes.
• In 2015 it would help to add a ramp or canburgler
• In 2016 (and 2013) a flip out defensive wall could make a huge difference.

Each of these examples were used in competition with great success (I could link to some, but given the "ethical" controversy surrounding cheesecake I won't). When the withholding allowance is removed, I can't see why more teams won't do the same.

That said, cheesecake limits are a separate issue from Bag/Witholding, and should be addressed with separate rules. The GDC tried to put in some rules last year, but they probably went too far. I think it's possible to strike the right balance with something like a separate weight limit, but that's a different conversation.