3" ball violation--Why????

[dtengineering]

Why, in soccer, aren't you allowed to carry the ball with your hands?

(Um... okay... because then it would be... er... football...?)

But I digress... the rule is the rule because it is the rule. Kind of circular logic, I'll admit... but keep in mind that the game consists of putting a ball through a hole in a wall so that we can pick the ball up and put it back out on the floor so we can put it through the hole again. Those rules are the rules because... er... well... those are the rules.

I suspect the GDC actually put a bit of thought into the 3" rule, as it seems that a very few teams have developed absolutely outstanding grippers, proving that it can be done, several have developed grippers of varying degrees of functionality, proving that it's not easy, and some have gone without.

A 4" incursion would have made it a no brainer to build a gripper. A 2" incursion would have probably made anything but a vacuum a waste of time. A 3" incursion isn't quite enough that a gripper was the obvious solution, but also enough that a vacuum wasn't the only solution.

But keep in mind that it isn't supposed to be easy, and just as soccer wouldn't be soccer if you could touch the ball with your hands, and basketball wouldn't be basketball if your could touch the ball with your feet, Breakaway wouldn't be Breakaway if you could suck the ball in to the robot.

Jason