Defense, It's still here.

[Dan Petrovic]

Originally Posted by Zyik

Or how about "nudging" as the manual calls it, a robot trying to get into place to hurdle? Think about it, what happens if you get behind them and push them over the line? They're not allowed to turn around and go back and try again like Rack-and-Roll, if you do it right they have to go all the way around the track to try again, or at least close to that. If you really play your cards right you might even manage to get their herding points reduced. Do it suddenly so that they don't manage to get rid of the ball, if it stays in contact with the robot as it crosses the line. If you're pushing the robot you shouldn't be in contact with their trackball.

The entire robot must cross the vertical plane to have been considered as CROSSING the line as per definition of CROSSING:

CROSSING: The act of a TRACKBALL or ROBOT passing through the plane defined by a line (i.e.
LANE MARKER or FINISH LINE) when it is projected vertically upwards. A TRACKBALL or
ROBOT shall have CROSSED a line when all parts of the object, while traveling in a 
counterclockwise direction, have completely passed through the plane.

So, if a team is nudged so that just their front wheels go over the line, they can back up and re-align themselves. In most cases, teams trying to hurdle will be clotheslined by the overpass as a result of said "nudging", so they wont cross the finish line. Also, I have a feeling you'd have to hit a hurdling robot pretty hard for their entire robot to cross the finish line, resulting in a 10 point penalty.

Thanks. I never thought of it this way, now we know how to avoid this type of defense.