Answered: Clarification of <SG3> time allowed for correction

During a recent tournament a robot did not move during autonomous mode, keeping in mind rule <SG3>, which states:

<SG3> During the Driver Controlled Period, Student Drive Team Members may handle their own Robot if no part of the robot has moved at all during the Match. The type of fixes that are allowed are limited to the following:
a. Turning the Robot on or off
b. Plugging in a battery and/or power expander
c. Plugging in a VEXnet Key
d. Turning the power expander on or off

My ruling;

A drive team member was allowed to “correct” the issue, in this situation connect the battery, observing the attempt (3 times) and failing, i told the team member, enough (as it was futile to continue and for the safety of the alliance team robot moving) i stopped any further attempts, thus disabeling it for the remainder of the match.

The end result was, the battery connector was malformed and needed replacement.

As there is no time limit, the rule states “during” (the team member parent complained i did not give enough time), was my ruling correct?

I’ve moved this thread to the Official Q&A.

In general, there is no time limit on the allowed actions described in <SG3>, so a team should be given as much time as needed, even if the effort is “futile”. However, if you felt it was not safe for the Drive Team Member to continue interacting with the Robot, then you were justified in asking the team to stop.

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