Just wanting to clarify that in 15 second auton you are not allowed to center park, but i was wondering if my team was parking and accidentally went up somewhat on the center parking tile this would be fine right? As long as we did not cross the auton line?
legal.
As long as you don’t fulfill the requirements in the rule book to be considered center park it is legal. If you have all your wheels on there and you aren’t touching anything else but you still haven’t crossed the autonomous line it would still be illegal.
Ah, here’s the rule:
<SG3> Stay on your side in Autonomous. During the Autonomous Period, Robots may not do any of the following:
- Contact the foam tiles on the opposing Alliance’s side of the Autonomous Line.
- Contact the opposing Alliance Platform.
- Become Center Parked.
It doesn’t look like it is against the rules to go past the line for the opposing team’s side. Rule #1 above only says you can’t contact the foam tiles on the opposite alliance side. If you are on the platform, you can’t be contacting the foam tiles. However, It does clearly state that you cannot become center parked.
The way I interpret it is that you can partially climb onto the center parking platform, even go as far as having part of your robot on the opposing side - but you just can’t fully center park. I’m not sure if that is the intent of the rule - but that’s sure how it reads.
Well, I interpret it as you can easily get onto the center platform fully, but it won’t count for any points, thus being useless. Has clarification on this been asked on the Q&A? I could see some disagreements between students and refs with varying interpretations of the rules.
The consequences for violating SG3 are to award the autonomous to the opposing alliance. So no, I do not agree with you that you can get completely on the center platform during autonomous, but it not count for any points. It certainly will not count for points for you, but it will give the 4 point bonus to your opponents.
Below is the full text of SG3.
I can easily see your perspective. But there is no rule against contacting the center platform. As I see it, you may not become center parked. I read that as “center parking is not an aspect of the autonomous period.” So, parking on the center platform and becoming center parked are different things in my interpretation.
Again, though. It would be a pointless (in both senses of the word) maneuver, and should not be attempted, as it will not result in any points.
Your interpretation is probably the most correct, but I’m introducing another interpretation for the sake of clarification. It is not worth time to climb onto the center platform in auto, so I am not promoting it. Just that in case it accidentally happens, it could be ruled legal, and not result in points. 
Edit: to clarify, I agree with your interpretation. Just want to clarify.
So this is the definition of Center Parked:
Center Parked – A Robot status. A Robot is Center Parked when it is:
o Contacting the Center Platform.
o Not contacting any Alliance Platform.
o Not contacting the foam field tiles or white tape.
So you can contact the center platform, you just can’t be center parked per the definition. I kind of think parking on the center platform and becoming center parked are the same thing.
Okay. It’s kind of hard to build an argument in the favor of my pitched interpretation.
There’s probably not enough ambiguity there to make a big deal out of it. (But I would still like it asked on the Q&A to clarify the intent.)
In SG3, the first two lines are clearly saying what your robot is not allowed to do, not what it’s impossible for your robot to do, so I assume the third line is the same way: the robot is not allowed to become center parked.
I assume that means the robot is not allowed to be in a position where it would normally count as center parked, although it seems the robot is technically allowed to be mostly on top of the center platform, as long as it doesn’t meet the criteria for being center parked.
(Rules are quoted from @536Mentor and @Gear Geeks, respectively.)
Edit: It would definitely be good to check in the Q&A, too, so we can be sure, and so there can be documentation of the correct interpretation.