Change up - teamwork and skills question

[QuantumCreator1036]

Hello
I was wondering whether you could make slight changes to your robot between teamwork and skills matches - E.G in teamwork having a certain c-channel on the robot but for skills take it off

[axharrell04]

I’ve never heard of a rule that prevents this but that does sound kinda sketchy to me. I know that during matches I have removed c channels from the bottom of my bot prevent being stuck on things and wasnt called on it, but what ur describing sounds much more methodical then last minute repairs and revisions

[QuantumCreator1036]

I don’t want to reveal what we’re exactly planning to do yet but if there’s something that will help us in teamwork but not help us in skills can we intentionally remove it in skills?

[axharrell04]

As I said before I’ve never heard of someone doing that before and have never read a rule prohibiting it, my best advice would be just try it out at a competition. I hate to say this but really as long as nobody saw, I guess it would be fine, I’ve seen people do much worse at a competition

[QuantumCreator1036]

Do you think it’s worth asking on the official Q&A whether this is allowed?

[axharrell04]

I would cuz it would suck to get kicked from a tournament for something like that

[GBHS_VEX_Member]

Yes, you are allowed to have different changes to the robot. Our team did that for Skills in Turning Point at Worlds.

What we did that was illegal was not have all configurations inspected beforehand. The rulebook states that all different major modifications on a robot must be inspected. Expect the rule to magically get edited in on five or so minutes.

EDIT: I can’t do it on mobile, but rule R3b on the game manual, on page 24, mentions inspecting all functional robot configurations.

[QuantumCreator1036]

Thanks so much
20 chars

[holbrook]

The other relevant rule is <R1>, and in particular <R1c>:

<R1> One Robot per Team. Only one (1) Robot will be allowed to compete per Team in the VEX Robotics Competition. Though it is expected that Teams will make changes to their Robot at the competition, a Team is limited to only one (1) Robot. As such, a VEX Robot, for the purposes of the VEX Robotics Competition, has the following subsystems:

• Subsystem 1: Mobile robotic base including wheels, tracks, legs, or any other mechanism that allows the Robot to navigate the majority of the flat playing field surface. For a stationary Robot, the robotic base without wheels would be considered Subsystem 1.

• Subsystem 2: Power and control system that includes a legal VEX battery, a legal VEX control system, and associated motors for the mobile robotic base.

• Subsystem 3: Additional mechanisms (and associated motors) that allow manipulation of game objects or navigation of field obstacles.

Given the above definitions, a minimum Robot for use in any VEX Robotics Competition event (including Skills Challenges) must consist of 1 and 2 above. Thus, if you are swapping out an entire subsystem of either item 1 or 2, you have now created a second Robot and are no longer legal.

• a. Teams may not compete with one Robot while a second is being modified or assembled.

• b. Teams may not have an assembled second Robot to be used to repair or swap parts to the first Robot.

• c. Teams may not switch back and forth between multiple Robots during a competition. This includes using different Robots for Skills Challenge, Qualification and/or Elimination Matches.

• d. Multiple Teams may not use the same Robot. Once a Robot has competed under a given team number at an event, it is “their” Robot - no other Teams may compete with it for the duration of the competition season.

So yes, swapping out robot mechanisms between skills and qualification matches is OK, as long as the swap doesn’t create a new Robot as described in <R1>.

[sankeydd]

I was wondering whether you could make slight changes to your robot between teamwork and skills matches

From the manual: https://www.vexrobotics.com/vexedr/competition/vrc-current-game

You aren’t allowed to swap out subsystem 1 or 2, so that implies 3 is OK to do so. In IQ, teams will often switch out omnis for traction wheels. They have ruled that is OK because it’s not the entire system. Coming with a tank drive base and an H drive base is not OK.

I’ve never heard of a rule that prevents this

There is a rule regarding this. If you are unfamiliar with the rules, that’s fine. But if you are going to try and answer rule questions do a quick search through the rules first.

As I said before I’ve never heard of someone doing that before and have never read a rule prohibiting it, my best advice would be just try it out at a competition.

I would never recommend this approach. If the answer is obvious, the community will help you find it. It it’s not, there is the Q&A.

[ryan_mc]

This year, in tower takeover, there were a few teams that had really long trays in matches, to focus on stacking. However, when they went to run a skills, they would take off part of their tray to allow them to score towers, in hopes of multiplying their score. As far as this example goes, it appears that it is legal to change your robot slightly.

[QuantumCreator1036]

thanks
(Damn 20 chars)

[9181X_Austin]

If you’re still unsure, ask in the Q and A or talk to the tournament referees.

In past we’ve had a couple systems that were removed between skills and matches. One being our anti tip, and one being an aligner for TP. In our second ever comp during ITZ, we had a DR4B that was incredibly janky. It was so bad, that we removed it at the competition and turned into a pushbot. We were never called on it.

I think it’ll vary on the ref, no matter what the Q and A says.

[9MotorGang]

What 20 characters?

[QuantumCreator1036]

In a short post you can’t have more than 20 characters

[9MotorGang]

Interesting

[QuantumCreator1036]

how???
impossible???