Is defense necessary in practice rounds?

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

You design a robot that can score but is not very strong.

I design a robot that cant score much but can push anyone.

You want to practice getting on the ramp.

I want to practice getting you up the ramp.

Both teams are testing their strategy. I see nothing wrong with defense on practice day.

Tom,

Assume I've got the defendingest robot in the competition and you've got a shooter, defender, whatever. Would you appreciate it if I spent 10 minutes defending your robot up onto the ramp and pinning it there? Would you like it if in the process of defending you, I accidentally knocked your robot over?

You don't particularly need another robot around to practice defending against. Pushing things is not as hard as you seem to think, just practice driving and you'll be plenty prepared for defending. Failing that, if you really really want to defend someone, then seek out one of the teams on the field and ask them if you can practice against them for a while. An offensive team with all their bugs worked out will probably want to practice shooting and maneuvering against defense. Much, much better to ask permission than to ask forgiveness for annoying a team that's simply trying to get a robot working.