Answered: <SG4> "Repositioning" Clarification

[lucy]

Hello Karthik,

At the two competitions I have attended, the referees had opposing viewpoints on the repositioning of the robot during autonomous.

<SG4> states that:

During the Autonomous Period, Drivers and Coaches may handle their own Robot while the Robot is in contact with their own Alliance Starting Tile (i.e. the tile the Robot started the match on), and not touching the Bump, within the following restrictions.

1. Drivers and Coaches may only interact with a Robot if it is touching their own Alliance Starting Tile and no part of the Robot is touching a gray foam tile, except the interaction allowed in

2. If any part of a Robot is touching a grey foam tile, the only interaction
   that will be allowed is to bring the Robot fully into the legal Alliance Starting Tile, into a legal position as per <SG4i>

3. After any legal interaction with the robot by Drivers and Coaches, and prior to the robot attempting to score or interact with Game Objects, the robot must be in a position such that it is touching the legal Alliance Starting Tile and no part of the Robot is touching a gray foam tile; a legal position as per <SG4i>. i.e. Before the Robot leaves the Alliance Starting Tile, Drivers and Coaches may not be touching the robot. If Drivers and Coaches touch the Robot again, it must be touching a legal Alliance Starting Tile and it must immediately be brought fully back onto the tile.
   Note: Robots that hang over the edge of the Alliance Starting Tile, but do not touch any gray foam tiles, are considered to be in legal positions for interaction as per <SG4>

4. Drivers and Coaches may only interact with a Robot if they are on or in the general vicinity of the Alliance Robot Interaction Spot that corresponds to the Alliance Starting Tile the Robot is on.

In addition, in <SG5>:

Note: During the handling specified in <SG4> And <SG5> robots may be repositioned, but must be returned to a valid starting position as per <SG1>.

At my first competition, if the robot returned to the alliance starting tile and was touching the bump in any way, we could not reposition it or touch it at all. Also, if the robot was touching the starting tile and a grey tile, we could pull it into the starting tile but still not touch the bump in any way.

Thus, we adjusted our autonomous programs and routines to fit these guidelines. However, at my second competition, it wasn’t okay to start the robot touching the bump per <SG1>, but you could reposition it to touch the bump or while it was touching the bump. It was the opposite ruling from last time.

From the manual’s direct words and especially that clause in <SG5>, it seems like the ruling from the first competition is the correct one, but could you help me verify?

And just to clarify, I believe I read somewhere that when we reposition the robot, we’re allowed to physically lift the robot off the ground to bring it back into the starting tile? I wanted to double check because I couldn’t find the original thread I found that on.

Here are some diagrams to show what I mean because I’m really bad at explaining the situation. Apologies for the crude pictures.

[Karthik]

@lucy

At my first competition, if the robot returned to the alliance starting tile and was touching the bump in any way, we could not reposition it or touch it at all. Also, if the robot was touching the starting tile and a grey tile, we could pull it into the starting tile but still not touch the bump in any way.

Yes, this is correct.

@lucy

However, at my second competition, it wasn’t okay to start the robot touching the bump per <SG1>, but you could reposition it to touch the bump or while it was touching the bump. It was the opposite ruling from last time.

This is not correct.

@lucy

From the manual’s direct words and especially that clause in <SG5>, it seems like the ruling from the first competition is the correct one, but could you help me verify?

The interpretation at your first event was the correct one.

@lucy

And just to clarify, I believe I read somewhere that when we reposition the robot, we’re allowed to physically lift the robot off the ground to bring it back into the starting tile? I wanted to double check because I couldn’t find the original thread I found that on.

Yes, this is legal.

[lucy]

Thank you very much!!

[Karthik]

You’re welcome!