Do you think defensive bots will play a big role in this competition, or will it be mostly a back and forth between the two alliances? If defensive bots will be important, do you think it would be pushbots just messing up the aim or something else?
I would imagine that any defensive robot worth its salt in this game will be very effective at parking. That being said, given specific rules against hoarding, the limitations of autonomous, I think a defensive bot would have trouble building a strategy that’s more effective than just being 100% offensive
The only way that I can imagine a D-bot being able to defend is by trapping and shoving, maybe even by shooting balls at them to throw them off sometimes. If teams do try and use this strategy then best of luck to them.
Even then, the definition of hoarding comes into play, where your denying access to a corner of the field and likely more than 2 balls, unless you somehow get more than 99% of the balls into the same spot that they’re in.
I think maybe Defensive could work when the opponent is shooting balls at the flags. Pushing the opponent when shooting would probably make the shooting robot fail at it wasting time.
Hmmmmmmm…my ideal defensive bot would have a launcher (they’re relatively simple and not too heavy) just for some kind of scoring, a strong drive train (for platform wrestling), and a ram or something that fills the 36" lateral extension constraint for maximum shoving and area denial.
Just have to make sure not to deny the scoring objects…
I see no reason why offensive bots can’t play defense just the same as a full defensive bot could play on this particular board.
For this game, I personally believe that good drive practice, maintaining control over zones effectively, and quick score cycling will be good criteria to look out for. With this, I feel like well prepared defensive bots will be effective.
Defense bots would probably be best to place balls on other robots for the 2 ball carry rule; however, this defensive action may become a violation of rules as we progress through the season.
There’s always a rule against forcing someone to break a rule.
Yep, but you’re not doing that if you place two balls somewhere they can’t take them out when they have no balls. You are technically not forcing them to violate a rule, they just can’t pick up any more balls. That’s why there was a rule against placing a cone in an opponent in ITZ. Technically not forcing them to violate a rule, but it prevents them from picking up another cone.
there is a rule specifically against this though:
Okay, so this year there is, too. Glad they covered that again. I just didn’t read the rule manual more carefully since I am not competing, and I assumed others did. 
I think the only defensive strategy is to “guard” the poles with the caps on them. The robot would move back and forth blocking the other team from stacking the caps and if they did the robot would just flip the cap off of the poles. Then the robot would go and park. Other than that however I don’t think that making a defensive robot would be optimal. Instead I would aim to build an offensive robot. I hope this helps!
What if someone were to build a blocker on their bot like the ones in SS, I think that’d be a good defense
Lol a wallbot would be fun. But then again, you can only go up to 36" laterally, so they could get around you. I would focus on flipping and messing with caps so they don’t pick them up in the first place.
If the opposing alliace are both ball shooters, a robot to block them, but can do caps if needed, would be good
lol how about 4-d 8 ball pool
offensive robot that shoots balls to intercept enemy shot balls but are aimed so that they then ricochet to hit flags
M A X I M U M E F F I C I E N C Y
It wouldn’t work, but wouldn’t it be beautiful to see someone with a ball shooter shooting down balls as they’re launched, like missiles intercepting incoming missiles?
I think teams that focus on shooting from one specific distance could see defense played against them more than other teams. Since they have to keep reloading, they have to keep giving up that distance (plus there are three spots to shoot at. Beating them to that spot could really mess with their shooting while theoretically not messing with your own plans too much.