Why do people not make only defense bots, people say “defense wins championships.” Why is defense not as big?
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Primarily because most bots that can play defense also have some offensive capability.
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Generally if you need to play only defense, or are asked to play only defense by an alliance, that can be accomplished even if you have some offensive capability.
Also, it’s not as much fun to build.
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Because it’s boring. Nobody wants to build the robot whose sole purpose is to get in other people’s way.
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It’s sounds like ur robot is vulnerable to Defence
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Actually, it probably isn’t as vulnerable as you think.
A good offense robot can also play defense if need be. A good defense-only robot cannot play offense!
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Many robots are vulnerable to good defense and good defensive drivers. It’s a competition with many different strategies on how to win. If you and your team think a solely defensive bot is the best option for you, then go for it!
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There are teams that win events playing only defense. How far they go after that depends on what else they add. This year however is different. Before all teams got the chassis if they wanted it so they would have a “defense bot” by just building that. Now however everyone has the parts and instructions to do more with KitBot.
All teams can play defense and score so why plan to do less than the new “Minimum”.
When those teams win events they aren’t the only robot on the alliance and they are often carried. Last year at Kettering is a good example. There was a team with 1 student total. They built a defense bot and they ranked high because of luck and driver skill. There were many bots at that event that just couldn’t out score how many points they prevented.
Their alliance playoff partners were offensive power houses to fill in the other side of the equation. In playoffs you can cherry pick your team. In the lead up to that through quals it’s totally random. Imagine being on an alliance this year with 2 defense only bots and a KitBot. If anyone else on the other side can do more you are likely to lose.
Aim higher is my advice
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I feel like this is the first time in a while that dedicated defensive mechanisms like shields will be effective. I don’t remember 2020 well enough to say for sure, but I think the last time I saw them prevalently was in 2016 (not counting the poles for visibility of 2019).
the desire to get under the stage will lead to a lot of short shooters I think, and a simple piece of 4’ polycarb will be very annoying for shooting and automatic targeting, while leaving plenty of room for other mechanisms.
from a competitive lens all defense bots are often not good defense bots a good defense bot especially at the worlds level includes a good auto and end game. see 2019 and 2022 most defense bots could score one in auto and do the hardest level of the climb
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Historically FIRST makes game decisions to disincentivize defense where possible as well. Totally shutting down opponents isn’t necessarily in the ethos of “Coopertition.”
Protected shots like the podium this year and rules preventing suffocation/access to game elements are designed to make robots play the game as intended, not just to prevent others from playing IMO.
Imagine if you build a kit bot as a rookie and spend the entire year not being able to do anything at all because your entire opposing alliance is playing hardcore defense… not a great student experience.
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So far, our robot is impervious to defense.
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Defense typically does not require a specific design of robot it is just a gameplay mindset. To play defense all that you need is a drivetrain and a really good understanding of the rules and gameplay, after that it’s about being opportunistic and knowing when and where to be on the field.
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I drive coached an all defense bot made by 1 student in the past, look up the 8380 story.
The analogy that defense wins championships doesn’t apply here, as in sports multiple people can try to stop the one scoring object (ball, puck, disc). In FIRST games, anyone can be scoring at the same time.
This is my comment about defense in general. By playing defense, you are taking away from one offensive robot you could have had. You are playing a 2v3 match now by playing defense. Is that robot playing defense stopping more points than just playing 3 offense?
If you really want to play defense, you need to watch a bot like 3175 in 2022, where the defense was opportunistic, but could also score when needed.
The reality is when robots are swerve, they are too maneuverable around the defense. And stuff like turrets make “pick” style contact defense less effective too. Blocking shots is usually harder, it’s usually better to lengthen cycle times instead.
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Defense-only is useless in autonomous and endgame most years. Even in teleop, it does not score points, only prevents them. What do you do if your opponents aren’t working? Bottom line is that having some offense is much better than none.
Also, I’m not sure if it’s an anomaly, but the value of defence in 2023 was minimal. By mid-season, alliances teams were playing triple offense unless one of the alliance partners did not have an effective offense. By eliminations at worlds, robots were more likely to run into their alliance partners in the protected zones than their opponents in the middle of the field.
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I think it is very viable strategy to build a bot that scores the preplaced note in auto, plays great defense, and then climbs at the end. I would wager that this team would rank high in early competitions and be a solid number 2 pick in later competitions.
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Being ONLY defense doesn’t get you RP, so you will rank low (unless the scheduling gods like you) and will have to be picked. Then being great at defense means you will be picked earlier by weaker offensive bots and given that FRC rules favors offense over defense you get bounced out of playoff early. So in a regional you won’t be line for wildcard and at district events your low rank, mid pick and few playoff wins means you will likely not have the points for district CMP.
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I think this qualifies as defense only.
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As I recall, there were a lot of folks who found it offensive.
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The Michigan Defense won a CHAMPIONSHIP on Monday Night! GO BLUE!!!
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