official sack attack q and a

[magicode]

It's most definitely illegal. Think of it this way: If a robot traps you into a corner, can they say "It's your fault for not being able to lift up on sliders, and driver over me"? Obviously not, even though it's possible to design a robot to do that. Same rule applies here. If on the other hand, the robot is capable of going under the through, that might a different story.

[Ephemeral_Being]

Originally Posted by magicode

It's most definitely illegal. Think of it this way: If a robot traps you into a corner, can they say "It's your fault for not being able to lift up on sliders, and driver over me"? Obviously not, even though it's possible to design a robot to do that. Same rule applies here. If on the other hand, the robot is capable of going under the through, that might a different story.

Right. I COULD build a robot that moves by spinning 12" linear slides as legs, like the spider bot design someone posted. That would be difficult to pin. However, it is still pinning to trap designs not capable of the same thing.

That sounded weird. But I think you get my point.

[Vex Mundi]

Originally Posted by tabor473

My entire thing was about ruling of pinning against the trough because people can drive underneath it

That's correct. No one misunderstood you. The answer to your question is in the manual, and it was answered twice in the two posts immediately after you asked it.

The posts you were replying to were not intended to answer your question. It had been answered. To paraphrase the manual, inhibiting the movement of an opposing Robot while the opposing Robot is in contact with the trough is illegal. The fact that it is possible to build a robot that can drive under the trough is not mentioned in the rule and is irrelevant.

[AnotherRoboMom]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

The Game Design Committee believes it's best for you to spend a while reading the manual and understanding the game before posting questions. The official Q&A will open soon.

Please define "open soon".
Thank you.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by AnotherRoboMom

Please define "open soon".
Thank you.

May 15th.
http://www.vexforum.com/showthread.p...045#post295045
Sorry we didn't do a formal announcement sooner!

[tabor473]

What about if a robot has its arm up but it is capable of driving under when its arm is down.
Do you think it would not count as pinning cause they could lower there arm.

[magicode]

Originally Posted by tabor473

What about if a robot has its arm up but it is capable of driving under when its arm is down.
Do you think it would not count as pinning cause they could lower there arm.

Now that is a valid question, and something you should ask on the 15th. Personally, I think that as long as you're not in contact with them and pinning them against the troughs, it wouldn't be considered trapping or pinning.

[Ephemeral_Being]

Originally Posted by tabor473

What about if a robot has its arm up but it is capable of driving under when its arm is down.
Do you think it would not count as pinning cause they could lower there arm.

If and only if you left the Robot room to lower its arm, you MAY have a case. However, the ability of a team to do that is so, so low, as you would have to trap the robots in a VERY specific configuration to have them stuck, but not be "pinned".

[chris@aura]

The pushing action could prevent the other robot from moving its arm down anyway (stuck between your robot and the trough), and it would be hard to prove that it wasn't. Basically in my opinion, if you are preventing movement of the other robot, it is pinning (or trapping) and there isn't any way to get around that using technicalities or exceptions. The rules are fairly clear on this:

Pinning – A Robot is considered to be Pinning an opposing Robot if it is inhibiting the movement of an opponent Robot while the opposing Robot is in contact with the foam playing surface and another Field Element.

Nothing about the specifics on how the pinning is carried out.