Answered: Clarification SG4

[ehunt39]

Hello,

This may seem like a silly question but I am looking for a clarification on rule SG4 and interacting with your robot in between the autonomous and driver control periods. In a tournament this past weekend we came across a scissor bot that would fully extend vertically during autonomous with such force that all four of it’s wheels would lift completely off the playing surface. In a few of this team’s matches this also caused the robot to fall over - once nearly leaving the game field entirely, while almost taking out one of its drivers in the process. The ruling this past weekend was that the robot never left the starting tile, so the team was allowed to right the robot before the start of driver control. I guess the clarification Im looking for is, what does it mean to leave your starting tile? Does the robot actually have to drive completely off the tile? How much of the robot must still be touching the starting tile before its deemed to have left? Did the judges in this case, correctly interpret this rule?

[Karthik]

This may seem like a silly question but I am looking for a clarification on rule SG4 and interacting with your robot in between the autonomous and driver control periods. In a tournament this past weekend we came across a scissor bot that would fully extend vertically during autonomous with such force that all four of it’s wheels would lift completely off the playing surface. In a few of this team’s matches this also caused the robot to fall over - once nearly leaving the game field entirely, while almost taking out one of its drivers in the process. The ruling this past weekend was that the robot never left the starting tile, so the team was allowed to right the robot before the start of driver control. I guess the clarification Im looking for is, what does it mean to leave your starting tile? Does the robot actually have to drive completely off the tile? How much of the robot must still be touching the starting tile before its deemed to have left? Did the judges in this case, correctly interpret this rule?

No, this is absolutely not legal. Let’s take a look at the exact wording of <SG4>.

<SG4> During the Driver Controlled Period, Student Drive Team Members may handle their own Robot as long as the robot has never left the Alliance Starting Tile. The intent of this rule is to allow teams to fix Robots that were unable to move at the start of the Match. **The type of fixes that are allowed is limited to the following:
a. Turning the Robot on or off
b. Plugging in a battery
c. Plugging in a VEXnet Key
d. Turning the power expander on or off
**

Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the match will result in a warning. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee’s discretion.

Note: Student Drive Team Members may only interact with a Robot if they are in the Alliance Station or in the general vicinity of the Alliance Robot Interaction Spot that corresponds to the Alliance Starting Tile the Robot is on.

Since lifting a Robot is not one of the four allowable actions listed in the rule, it is not legal.