Answered: Clarification on a ruling

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC > In The Zone (17/18)
1

The GDC said “Thank you for your feedback. It is not legal to compete with the same robot under multiple team numbers within a given season.” What is the rule that does not allow this? The question referred to <R1> which states the following:

<R1> Only one (1) robot will be allowed to compete per team in the VEX Robotics Competition. Though it is expected that teams will make changes to their robot at the competition, a team is limited to only one (1) robot. As such, a VEX robot, for the purposes of the VEX Robotics Competition, has the following subsystems:

Subsystem 1: Mobile robotic base including wheels, tracks, legs, or any other mechanism that allows the robot to navigate the majority of the flat playing field surface. For a stationary robot, the robotic base without wheels would be considered Subsystem 1. Subsystem 2: Power and control system that includes a VEX legal battery, a VEX control system, and associated motors for the mobile robotic base.
Subsystem 3: Additional mechanisms (and associated motors) that allow manipulation of game objects or navigation of field obstacles.

Given the above definitions, a minimum robot for use in any VEX Robotics Competition event (including skills challenges) must consist of 1 and 2 above. Thus if you are swapping out an entire subsystem of either item 1 or 2, you have now created a second robot and are no longer legal.

a. Teams may not compete with one robot, while a second is being modified or assembled.
b. Teams may not switch back and forth between multiple robots during a competition.

https://vexforum.com/t/answered-one-robot-used-by-multiple-teams-at-different-events-programs/46429/1

Given the entirety of <R1> makes zero mention of a robot being used by multiple team even at the same competition let alone at different competitions and the rule is all about 1 team’s use of multiple robots, it would seem any interpretation of this rule that applies over multiple tournaments would only restrict teams from having 1 robot at one tournament and a different robot at another tournament which does not seem likely given most teams will completely change subsystem 1 or 2 over the course of the year.

Additionally, there is the rational given earlier this season which seems to make sense of this rule and the new ruling seems to contradict.

https://vexforum.com/t/answered-sharing-robots-between-vex-u-and-vrc/43893/1

2

This is not correct. The first sentence of R1 reads as follows:

One robot, being used by multiple teams, is not covered by the “one robot per team” verbiage. We apologize for confusion caused by the semantics of this definition, and will be updating it in future seasons to better capture the intended interpretation.