At what point are you crossing the auton line?

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC > Turning Point (18/19)
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One of my teams had to defend themselves recently at a tournament where their wheels were not on or over the line but the frame was over hanging. They handled it fine, but it brings up the question. At what point on the 2 tape lines is considered crossing the opponents tile? If I read it strictly as written, it means that they must cross over into the opponents foam past the 2nd line. I have to ref at state next week and need to know. Am I correct or not?
Thanks

2

You are correct. Even if a part of the robot passes over the “invisible barrier” dividing the field, as long as it doesn’t touch the foam field tiles on the other side, it’s not crossed over.

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If a part of the robot TOUCHES the grey tiles on the opposite side, only then would an alliance lose autonomous automatically. Becoming center parked will result in a loss of autonomous too.

Touching BOTH white lines is ok, no auto auton loss. Robots can hang over the white lines and over the field tiles, that would be ok as long as they don’t touch that grey surface.

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The two previous replies are correct, but in general, it’s a good idea to cite the relevant rule in these sorts of threads. The relevant rule here is <SG3> (emphasis mine):

<SG3> Stay on your side in Autonomous. During the Autonomous Period, Robots may not do any
of the following:

  1. Contact the foam tiles on the opposing Alliance’s side of the Autonomous Line.
  2. Contact the opposing Alliance Platform.
  3. Become Center Parked.
    Violations of this rule will result in the Autonomous Bonus being awarded to the opposing Alliance.
    Intentional, strategic, or egregious violations, such as intentional contact with an opposing Robot
    while completely across the Autonomous Line, will result in a Disqualification.

So, to answer the original question:

  • Part of a robot “overhanging” the other side of the autonomous line is not a violation of <SG3>.
  • Part of a robot contacting one of the tape lines, or the foam between the two tape lines, is not a violation of <SG3>.
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5

You are crossing the auto line if your wheels make contact with ground that is completely beyond the 2 strips of tape

6

To take this to an extreme for the sheer fun of it, what if a robot jumps over and balances itself on the white tape line defining the expansion zone?
Sure, it’s kinda meaningless to ask, but what if a robot touches the white tape along the back defining the expansion zone? An edge case, but the rules do specify foam tiles, do they not?

Either way, this extreme extension of the rules is pretty pointless.

Edit: Okay, ruin my fun…

Pulling common sense on me. How unexpected. :wink:

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I think G2 handles it pretty well.

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