Being the first time coach - Is it ok to for Opposing teams to flip cones to make it difficult to other teams ? In the same light can an opposing robot take away the cones that our robot has stacked on our mobile cones or the longer stand ? Should we have a defensive strategy ?
Welcome to the VRC. Any rules answer outside the official Q&A may be wrong, and if you REALLY want to know, post your question in the official Q&A forum. Your questions are pretty basic, though, and this should not be controversial.
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Yep. If you study the rules closely, there is nothing that makes cone-tipping illegal. If it’s not illegal, it’s (generally) legal.
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That would be a violation of specific rules, so, no, you cannot remove cones from either the mobile or stationary goals.
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Whether you have a defensive strategy or not is up to your kids. In some games, a good defense is decisive and in others there is no clear defensive strategy.
My recommendation for a first-year team is to aim at playing 80% of the game, and leave the edge cases to the more-experienced teams. Scoring a single cone in a minute can be a major achievement for a rookie team at the beginning of the season. Use a simple chassis, and focus on the most obvious scoring opportunit(y)(ies). Once that works, change the design and build another robot. Have fun!
Thank You .
To add on to what he said, pick one part of the game and do it as best as you can. For example, build a robot that’s really good at stacking mobile goals, or stacking cones on stationary goals, and you’ll do surprisingly well. Before you build anything, you should have your kids sit down and read through the game manual together, and talk about it. In the early or mid season, seek out a good team in your area, and ask for help. You’d be surprised at how willing people are to share
No, I don’t think you should have a defensive strategy. With a defensive strategy, your team will be prone to DQs, tricky alliance politics, and won’t be able to do skills. It’s a much safer and less frustrating route to build a normal competition robot and really excel at one part of the game, like other’s have been saying. Maybe start with a lift and a drive, and focus on scoring the cones. Or maybe have a little 4 bar in the front and intake mobile goals. Once the students get better, maybe they can build an internal stacker. Whatever you choose, if your students devote their time and skill to this project, you will be a force to be reckoned with by the end of the season. Good luck!