Answered: SG8 low-hang clarification

[pj2442A]

Definition of Low-Hanging robot and rule SG8 clarification

In the game manual, low hanging is defined as a robot touching the hanging bar and not any of the foam tiles. After looking at the high-hanging definition where it said you cannot contact the walls, I was inspired to design something that grabbed onto the walls to lift our robot (for a low hang) and simply touched the bar. My bubble was partially burst when one of my teammates showed me SG8, which says robots cannot **GRASP, ATTACH or GRAPPLE ** to field elements (in this case the field perimeter). It defines these terms at touching more than one surface of the wall.
There is the groundwork for my question, and here it is: Is it allowed for the robot to have a flat metal piece that assists in a lift by pushing down and holding on the top of the wall if the robot does not contact any of the sides of the wall while the lift is occurring? By this definition this does not appear to be a grasp, attach or grapple. So would it be allowed? Or is no contact with the field perimeter what is really intended for this rule?

Thanks for any tips!

[Karthik]

@pj2442A

There is the groundwork for my question, and here it is: Is it allowed for the robot to have a flat metal piece that assists in a lift by pushing down and holding on the top of the wall if the robot does not contact any of the sides of the wall while the lift is occurring? By this definition this does not appear to be a grasp, attach or grapple. So would it be allowed? Or is no contact with the field perimeter what is really intended for this rule?

As you mention, provided that your Robot does not grasp, grapple, or attach to the Field Perimeter, this would be legal. However, we have seen teams attempt this before, and they almost have always ended up grasping or attaching to the Field Perimeter in some way. This is not an attempt to dissuade you from your creative strategy, rather a warning of what has happened to teams in the past. Good luck!