Answered: Further clarification on <G8>

[That_guy]

During the autonomous period, are robots allowed to respond to the act of placing a skyrise section in the autoloader? (Assuming ultrasonic sensors were used so the act does not violate <SG5>)

Would the ruling change if the robot sensed a lack of skyrise section in the autoloader, turned slightly away while the drive member placed a skyrise section in the autoloader, and then sensed the skyrise section in the autoloader?

What if the team intentionally withheld loading a skyrise section to trigger a stop in the autonomous or potentially start a different autonomous routine?

Even if this type of interaction was deemed illegal, how would it be enforced during competition? I would imagine it would be very difficult to distinguish aside from checking individual lines of code in the robot’s program.

Edit (just for fun): would loading the skyrise sections in a different orientation (VEX logo facing into/out of field) to interact with the robot using line sensors be illegal? How would referees enforce this?

<G8> During a Match, Robots may be operated only by the Student Drive Team Members and/or by software running in the on-board control system. During the Autonomous Period Drive Team Members are not permitted to interact with the Robot or the controls on their VEXnet Joysticks in any way, directly, or indirectly. (e.g. Triggering sensors without touching the Robot is still illegal) 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.

[Karthik]

Robots are allowed to respond to the state of the playing field including the presence or absence of a Skyrise Section in the Autoloader. Robots are not allowed to react the actions or motions of Drive Team Members.

There is no expectation that Drive Team Members will load Skyrise Sections in a prompt manner. There is also no restriction on which way the VEX logo faces on a Skyrise Section loaded into an Autoloader.

The intent of this rule is to ensure that Robots are doing all the decision making during the Autonomous period based on the state of the field/Match. They should not be responding to human control.