Bumper Zone Contact

[coldfusion1279]

I have been thinking about how difficult it might be for some teams to line themselves up with a goal to shoot while others are defending. Pushing seems like it will be a big role in the game, much like last year.

The difference?

Well last year upon a force applied by another robot, the slippery surface and low contact point caused your robot to slide.

This year, the bumper zone is much higher, we are playing on carpet, and more than half the teams will have high traction wheels.

I wonder how the gameplay will change when teams figure out that they can push a team sideways so that instead of sliding, the moment causes the opponent to tip sideways. You could argue that the contact is legal, since it is within the bumper zone, and it may be legal as long as the opponent does not flip. But at what point is incidental contact limited, and which flips are a little more than unintentional.

I am talking on flat ground here, not the bump. Now, the robots are pretty heavy, so it will require a considerable amount of force to flip them. But have any teams considered this? Tested the force required to flip a robot pushing at that height? Designed their wheel base and style of wheel around this?