I was considering ideas for the king of the hill part of the competition on the raised platforms, and read through the rulebook and saw that you are allowed to expand horizontally up to 36 inches. This got me thinking, what if you were to extend C channels or some other metal piece sideways into the area above the opposing team’s platform, blocking them from getting onto it? Would this be a legal tactic?
Are you thinking a super-strong drivetrain so that you block them rather than them using the extension to push you off the center?
I could see this working out, but at the same time if not done so well I could see this being a big disadvantage because it would give the other team more surface area to push you off the center platform (if my logic makes any sense)
I’m not really concerned about how I would accomplish it for now, I’m just concerned as to whether or not it is a legal tactic or if it violates G12 note 2 that says “The Alliance Platform is not included in Note 1. Robots which are Alliance Parked are still protected by <G12> against destructive or defensive strategies.“ I’m not sure if this would only apply if my blocking damaged the other robots or if it would be considered defensive or not.
I don’t see any reason as to why this would be illeagal. As long as you’re only touching the center platform. Also, thanks for the idea 
Very early in the season, someone was thinking about shooting a net of rubber bands onto the alliance platform. The general consensus was that it was legal, but dangerous. Be careful, but it’s totally legal. Just be aware that it’s not a 36" square, it’s a 36" cylinder.
Technically there are some weird triangle shapes that do not fit in the cylinder, but are not longer than 36" in any horizontal direction. Believe me because I argued with someone on it and they roasted me with some trig.
just make a slight ramp so that the opposing team just flips themselves on your bot
3880X did this to some success @ Hilo 11/17/18. I’ll try to upload the video. They basically deploy a ramp on the other alliance to prevent them from coming to the yellow platform ~30 seconds from the end of the match. It was rendered ineffective in my opinion because they lost the 6 points from touching the other alliance platform.
you could pretty easily get those points back by giving it a physical stop
But then you are not completely on the center platform
They wouldn’t be anyway. They’d shoot from the ground. It would just be easier to park yourself, but, again, this was early season. Not really a design I endorse.