GP, Ramming, and Practice

[Kevin Sevcik]

I guess I'll be seconding Ken Leung for the first part of this post.

First, think of it from a safety standpoint. Robots need not be inspected before going out on the field on practice day. You literally have no idea what condition an opposing team's robot is in. For all you know, they've got a little bottle of nitroglycerin on the robot, waiting to explode when they get bumped. Basically, they know the limitations and physical condition of their robot. You have no idea. If you instigate actions that cause their robot to explode, it is entirely your fault. Entirely. Remember their robot could be a danger to itself, to other robots, or to the field and spectators.

Second, I've never seen the practice matches as simulating anything close to an actual match. Perhaps in a very very loose form. This is because I know most of the teams out their are fixing their robots or tuning systems. They're not really playing to win. If you actually think it's anything like a real match, you're fooling yourself. And yes, waaaaay back in the stone age (5 or so years ago), practice "matches" were, in fact, 10 whole minutes of free-form do whatever you like with your robot. There were students and coaches on the field examining robots working and resetting scoring items, etc. This has stopp because of safety issues, and because FIRST has introduced autonomous mode and various timing dependent elements of the matches. You can't have the full free-form style of practice with elements like that, but I don't really think the spirit of practice matches has changed much. To quote the rule book (which really should've been done a while ago):

7.5.1 Practice Rounds
Your registration envelope will contain a list of Thursday practice times and indicate on which field you will practice. Teams cannot switch practice times.
7.5.1.1 Time Slots
All teams will receive a list of all the practice times. Your team must be ready to practice at the designated times and on the specified fields. If your team/robot cannot be ready for your practice time slot, send in the human player only or forfeit the practice slot entirely. Your team members may want to scout other teams and their strategies.
7.5.1.2 Courtesy
In order to make the most of practice time, there will be a specified number of teams on a field during an assigned practice slot. Each team must be respectful of the other teams sharing the field. Friendly interaction between machines is acceptable if all teams are willing. Un-sportsman-like conduct on the part of a team during practice could result in loss of practice time.

Assume other teams are unwilling. If they're trying to avoid other robots and just shoot goals, they're probably unwilling. If they come after you first, they're probably willing, even if you're not. Note also that the rules call them practice times, not matches.

Finally, it's practice time. It's nice that defensive teams want to practice defense, but again, other teams want to practice other things. If you pin or flip over a robot in a practice round, that team has lost all that time. Apply the golden rule. Would you like it if someone arbitrarily declared that your practice round has been revoked? I assure you it will feel like that to some of those teams.

Upon futher discussion with my better half...

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

However, a team that plays within all constraints of the game, even during a practice match, should not be persecuted or be looked down upon because they didn't use their time as you wanted them to.

The implication of this statement is that it is, instead, entirely within your rights to force them to use their time as you want them to. I would tend to err on the side of unselfishness.