Answered: SG5 and G12

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC > In The Zone (17/18)
1

Hello, I was playing in the semifinals of the elimination matches when my alliance partner was moving a mobile goal with cones on it into the zone. Before this robot could bring the mobile goal all the way back to the zone, an opposing robot, in an attempt to defend against the mobile goal being scored, blocked the robot carrying the mobile goal from getting to the zone. As a result of this, the cones were knocked off of the mobile goal. The referee did not disqualify the defensive robot because he said it wasn’t match affecting, but I thought that under rule SG5 the defensive robot should have been disqualified. Additionally, rule G12 states that robots with solely defensive strategies will undergo extra scrutiny. The event in question can be viewed here:

at 7:29:30
I just wanted to get clarification on this event so we don’t run into any issues further down the road in similar situations. Thanks!

2

As your referee pointed out, the most critical question in this case is whether or not the violation was Match Affecting (i.e. changed the winner and loser of the Match). While we cannot speak for the referee and what process they used to make their determination, here are some questions that could be used in a similar situation in the future:

  • Was the final score differential within the value of points lost by the un-stacked Cones (10 points for 5 Cones, in this case)?

  • Did the interaction have any other direct negative consequences, such as rendering the Mobile Goal un-scoreable, incapacitating an offensive Robot, or otherwise impeding progress in the Match?