Tipping opponents robots

[Ken Leung]

Originally Posted by Raul

Did anyone ever submit a question to have this clarified on the Q&A system?

The following question is submitted in the Q&A Forum:

""<G36> ROBOT to ROBOT Interaction - Strategies aimed solely at the destruction, damage, tipping over, or entanglement of ROBOTS are not in the spirit of the FRC and are not allowed. Violation: YELLOW CARD"

I am looking for a clarification on the implication of G36 on Robot to Robot interactions occurring on the bump. For any robots designed to deny a particular zone from opponents, specifically, to deny it from opponents who cannot travel through the tunnel, it could be a really tricky situation to be in.

Consider the following scenarios:

Let's say the opponent is designed such that it is very difficult to trip their robot over, on or off the bump. Let's say their robot was tipped over after engaging in a pushing match with your robot on the bump. Is it considered a penalty if:

1. The tipping resulted from accidental contacts between the two robots.
2. The tipping resulted from bumper to bumper interactions between the two robots.
3. The tipping resulted from aggressive maneuvers from your robot.

Ok, second scenario.

Let's say the opponent is designed such that it is very easy to tip their robot over on the bump (a slight touch would do). Let's say their robot was tipped over after engaging in a pushing match with your robot on the bump. Is it considered a penalty if:

1. The tipping resulted from accidental contacts between the two robots.
2. The tipping resulted from bumper to bumper interactions between the two robots.
3. The tipping resulted from aggressive maneuvers from your robot.

(Bear in mind all of these could happen within a split second, so it could be very hard to tell what actually happened during a match.)


I understand teams are told to be really careful about the possibility of tipping while going over the bump. I understand teams are encouraged to build self-righting mechanisms on their robots. I also understands teams should not intentionally tip another robot over, whether the opponents are going over the bump or not.

It would be really helpful, however, to know if the ruling will be more critical toward robots unstable on the bump, more critical toward robots defending the bump from robots unstable on the bump, or equally critical to both."