Intentionally tipping and disabling your own robot FTW...

[Mr. Lim]

Originally Posted by eagle33199

So while there is no specific rule against it, such an action is against the spirit of first, and as such could be dealt with by the judges [referees?].

Originally Posted by squirrel

As long as we had 842 on our alliance, we could bend it in half.....

Which leads to another interesting dilemma. The tipped, disabled robot can incur no more penalties of ANY kind, based on the way the rule is written. This essentially grants the team "immunity" from the moment the e-stop is hit.

1) A referee would be handcuffed in trying to penalize the team for breaking the spirit of FIRST. Even if it was the right thing to do.

2) If you really wanted to cover your bases, you would hit the e-stop as your robot was in the process of tipping, before it tipped to the point of penetrating the 80" diameter cylinder. I don't think robots that tip over, and as a result, extend beyond the 80" diameter cylinder, will be penalized however.

3) Getting through the blocking, tipped, disabled robot would probably mean pushing it hard enough to bend or break something, especially if it was designed specifically for the purpose of blocking. That also poses a very high risk for penalties for the opposing alliance trying to push through, especially if the bumper zone vs non-bumper zone contact penalties are still in effect for the disabled, tipped robot.

Effectively you've created a situation where your alliance is winning, scoring is frozen, you cannot incur penalties, and you've created a very strong incentive for your opponent to take a penalty.

Strategists drool. Gracious professionals cringe.