Answered: Starting Position against the wall

I would like to get a clarification on the starting position for ringmaster. When the robots are placed on the field I know they can extend to and including the black line for the 20" measurement. The rule says the robot can only contact the floor. My question is, do we need to make sure the robots are not touching the wall? Most tournaments we went to this was not an issue. However at one tournament the head ref was making a big deal of this. I would like to get a clarification before the state meet in a couple weeks so we can make the tournament run as smooth as possible.

As you mentioned, let’s take a look at <G3>, with a portion bolded for emphasis:

<G3> At the beginning of a Match, each Robot must:

a. Only be contacting the Floor.
b. Fit within a 11” x 20” area, bounded by the Starting Position.
c. Be no taller than 15”

An offending Robot will be removed from the Match at the Head Referee’s discretion.

The field perimeter wall is not part of the Floor. Thus, Robots should not be contacting the field perimeter wall. This is also addressed in the relevant Referee Training video: https://youtu.be/Bon-hHEbBBM?t=51