YMTC: Defensive Strategies

[Matt Reiland]

OK so we are all aware that there is going to be lots of interaction this year and pushing, bumping, etc.. is to be expected and you should have had your robot designed to be able to take a good amount of abuse.

Now the question: at what point does playing defense go past what was intended by the game creators and at what point level should it be penalized. After watching the webcasts for the past 2 weeks I have seen many times where a robot goes out and defends the opposite side of the field while the partners score on the opposite end of the field. Works pretty well I must say, definitely a valid strategy.

But what about teams that go out and back up and hit a robot then back up and hit a robot at high speed even continuing after getting repeated penalties for excessive ramming, a tactic that must be intended to do damage to the other robots. What should be the rule if they do it every match and continue to get similar penalties.

I would think at some point FIRST should give them a final warning then if the condition persists disqualify the team. Remember, this is different from interaction with other robots, this is backing up and ramming repeatedly.

Say your the head ref, you make the call.