Answered: Question about 5 seconds pinning <SG4>

[GBHS_VEX_Member]

…I am having a weird sense of deja vu. I don’t know if this question was deleted, or if it never sent as my browser has no recollection in its history of submitting this post, but I seriously thought that I did post this question yesterday. If this question is to be deleted again, could someone PM me why?

Anyways, <SG4> states the following.

<SG4> A Robot may not Pin or Trap an opposing Robot for more than five seconds during the
Driver Controlled Period. A Pin or Trap is officially over once the Pinning Robot has moved away
and the Robots are separated by at least 2 feet (approximately one (1) foam tile). After ending a Pin
or Trap, a Robot may not Pin or Trap the same Robot again for a duration of 5 seconds; if a Team
does pin the same Robot again, the pinning count will resume from where it left off when the
pinning Robot initially backed off.

I have now been to two competitions that ruled that the pinning for more than 5 seconds is cumulative, so even if you back up, the count would always stay frozen at the number you were at until your next pin. (e.g. If Red Robot A pinned Blue Robot D for 3 seconds and backed up, even if they stayed away for more than 10 seconds, the next time Red Robot A pins Blue Robot D, the count resumes at 3).

I need to ask for clarification about the meaning of the first sentence in <SG4>. Is this “more than five seconds” cumulative throughout the entire match, which makes the last clause a bit redundant, or does the “more than five seconds” count reset after backing up for 5 seconds?

[VEX_GDC]

Is this “more than five seconds” cumulative throughout the entire match, which makes the last clause a bit redundant, or does the “more than five seconds” count reset after backing up for 5 seconds?

The 5 second count should reset once an offending robot has backed away by at least 2 feet for at least 5 seconds, per the verbiage of SG4. Please see the relevant referee training video for more details.