Answered: Disqualifications and Disablements in VEX IQ

[jkitagawa]

I am trying to find a description of the procedure to follow for match disqualifications for VEX IQ. I cannot find this in the manual or in the referee training videos.

I was able to find definitions for disqualification and disablement: [INDENT]Disablement – A penalty applied to a Team for a rule violation. During Disablement a Team is no longer allowed to operate their robot and the Drive Team Members will be asked to place their controller(s) on the ground.

Disqualification – A penalty applied to a Team for a rule violation. A team that is Disqualified in a Match receives zero (0) points. At the Head Referee’s discretion, repeated violations and Disqualifications for a single team may lead to its Disqualification for the entire event.[/INDENT]

The only rule violation that I could find that also results in disablement is: [INDENT]<S1> If, at any time, the Robot operation or Team actions are deemed unsafe or have damaged the Field Elements or Rings, the offending team may be Disabled and/or Disqualified by the determination of the referees. The Robot will require re-inspection before it may again take the field.[/INDENT]

All of the other rules state the team may be disqualified from the match, but does not state the robot should be disabled.

So in the following scenario what should happen?
TEAM A and TEAM B are scheduled for a match. Thirty seconds in the match TEAM A commits an offense that results in disqualification (<G16> Robots are not allowed to remove Rings from the Bonus Tray when it is not Released. Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the match will result in a warning. Major (score affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification.) The bonus tray is released by TEAM A but not through the levers. TEAM B never commits a rules violation throughout the remainder of the match.

What is the procedure that should be followed?
Is TEAM A allowed to complete the match or should the referee disable their robot immediately after the violation of the rule?
Should any points that TEAM A scored during the match be counted?
Is TEAM B awarded the points for the release of the bonus tray?

If TEAM A’s robot is disabled by the referee are they allowed to remove it from the field (especially if it blocks TEAM B from reaching a scoring objective)?

Please help me understand that rules and procedures for disqualification and disablement in VEX IQ.

[VEX_GDC_IQ]

I cannot find this in the manual or in the referee training videos.

First, thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will make sure to communicate this more clearly in the future.

Disqualifications are presented after a match has concluded. This is because most of the rules that could result in a Disqualification include the following verbiage:

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

If a rule violation occurs that doesn’t affect an alliance’s score, it should be treated as a warning, not a Disqualification. The only way to truly know if the score was affected is to wait until the end of the match.

The recommended process for handling a Disqualification once a match is completed is to explain the rule violation clearly to the affected team(s) and mark it on the match score sheet. Disqualifications should be rare, and will usually be accompanied by a verbal warning during the match (e.g. “don’t forget to switch your Controllers!”).

Now, on to the specific example you have presented.

The bonus tray is released by TEAM A but not through the levers. TEAM B never commits a rules violation throughout the remainder of the match.
Is TEAM A allowed to complete the match or should the referee disable their robot immediately after the violation of the rule?

Rule G16 does not mention disabling a team’s robot, so the Team is allowed to continue driving. It is possible for a team to cause an accidental or minor violation that would not result in it being “score affecting”. See this related question for one such scenario - instead of disabling their robot, a referee could verbally warn Team A that they’re at risk of a Disqualification if they use the Rings that they have illegally obtained.

Should any points that TEAM A scored during the match be counted?

If the referee determines that Team A is going to be Disqualified, then they will receive zero points for the match. However, it is not feasible for a referee to track which points were scored by which team during a match. So, the match will be scored normally, and Team B will receive the score accordingly.

Is TEAM B awarded the points for the release of the bonus tray?

Let’s look at the definition of Released:

Released - The Bonus Tray is Released when both Latches have been activated and its Rings have begun moving towards the field due only to gravity (i.e. not due to contact by a Robot mechanism).

If Team A has removed in Rings in a “score affecting” way (i.e. not a minor or accidental violation), then that (by definition) means some Rings have moved towards the field as a result of a Robot mechanism, not gravity. Thus, the Bonus Tray is not Released, and no points are awarded.