Rule SG14 says that robots may not intentionally grasp, grapple, or attach to any Field Elements. Followed by “…react against multiple sides of a field element…”. Can a robot legally react against a single side of a field element? Without trying to give away too much of my idea, I’m simply wondering if it is legal for a robot to react against a single plane of a field element. Please see attached picture for theoretical idea. Would this be legal?
This ruling has been updated based on the June 15th manual update. Please see the updated post below for the current ruling.
It’s very difficult to make any sort of blanket rulings based on hypothetical situations. That being said, it’s hard to image how you could have a robot in the position depicted in the image without it being attached to the field. We do not want robots in any position where there’s a chance that they may damage the field perimeter from the weight of their robot. Resting on top of the field perimeter is one things, but any sort of clamping or cantilevering runs into <SG14>.
Please note that the June 15th Game Manual update made it illegal for High Elevating Robots to touch the field perimeter at all. It also made it illegal for Low Elevating Robots to be supported by the field perimeter.
