Bumper Zone Contact

[Lil' Lavery]

Strictly speaking, from a rules perspective, intent has no bearing on the refs decision.

<G37> Permitted ROBOT to ROBOT Contact - Breakaway is a highly interactive game. Robust construction of ROBOTS will be very important in this high-speed competition. ROBOTS should be designed to withstand the contact that will occur during the MATCH. Appropriate contact is allowed under the following guidelines for which no PENALTY will be assigned:
a. High speed accidental collisions may occur during the MATCH and are an expected part of the game.
b. Incidental contact, both inside and outside the BUMPER ZONE, is to be expected and is generally acceptable.

<G38> Prohibited ROBOT to ROBOT Contact - Except as permitted in Rule <G37>, contact is prohibited under the following conditions:
a. Aggressive or intentional contact outside of the BUMPER ZONE. Violation: PENALTY; plus a RED CARD if the offense is particularly egregious or if it results in substantial damage to another ROBOT.

Emphasis mine.

Incidential does not mean accidental.

in⋅ci⋅den⋅tal  /ˌɪnsɪˈdɛntl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [in-si-den-tl]
–adjective 1. happening or likely to happen in an unplanned or subordinate conjunction with something else.

In other words, if your aim was simply to inhibit scoring or robot movement (ie, defense), but not to tip, tipping as a result of contact would be incidental. Even if you had the power to prevent the tip and you didn't (thus making it no longer accidental).

However, it would have to be pretty clear that it was not your sole aim as to not violate <G36>.

<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

Whether or not refs will call it this way remains to be seen, but that's what a strict reading of the rules tells me.