Answered: Horizontal Expansion Clarification

[JamesIsAmazing]

In this thread
https://vexforum.com/t/answered-sg14-ambigious-wording/42639/1
it was established that it is legal for a robot to expand past the 36” expansion limit as long as each section of the robot equidistant from the ground is less than 36” in size. In other words, it is legal for a robot where no 2 points horizontal from each other expand to greater than 36” to not fit within a 36” cylindrical tube. I’d like to extend this logic to an extreme situation. Would the following robot be legal?

If not, could you please explain the distinction between this case and the case in the thread I linked above?

Thank you very much!

[VEX_GDC]

In this thread it was established that it is legal for a robot to expand past the 36” expansion limit as long as each section of the robot equidistant from the ground is less than 36” in size.

This is not correct. SG14 is quoted here for reference:

<SG14> As per <G3>, at the beginning of a Match, each Robot must be smaller than a volume of 18” (457.2 mm) long by 18” (457.2 mm) wide by 18” (457.2 mm) tall. Once the Match begins, Robots may expand, but no horizontal dimension can exceed 36” (914.4 mm) at any point during the Match.

In the post that you linked, we agreed with the following interpretation of “horizontal dimension”:

Horizontal dimensions defined as measured from the top down projection of the robot onto a single horizontal plane.

If you projected your hypothetical robot onto a single horizontal plane, it would far exceed 36". Thus, this would not be legal.

You can also approach this question by looking at the official Robot Expansion Tool. This is the tool that referees and event staff are using to judge on-field expansion. Your hypothetical robot would not pass a test from this tool.