Dropping game elements on the floor and then picking them up
Introduction of elements in the isolation zone
Fail on the arm lift
Pinning (only 1 DQ this year)
Entanglement (also only 1)
Aggressive movement of the robot during drivers.
Before each event starts we have a drivers meeting where we go over:
the gate
introduction of elements
pinning
Working on the robot and “adjustments”
That seems to give the heads up. The first two happen in the heat of the excitement of the match. The next two are rookie teams / 1st event errors.
I don’t create my own rules. I don’t “imagine the intent” for example Pinning is to less than a 2’ square and it helps if the robot is touching. No “Well they are trapped in their isolation zone by that wall bot and there are no game elements, the GDC would want that called pinning.” If they did, Karthik would have put it in the rules or a forum post.
I call loudly “Blue 88 - Pinning - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1” So it’s not a surprise and teams do move pretty quickly.
If the robot is dead and hasn’t moved, I’m a little slack on the movement of the robot to get the battery plugged in. You can’t spin it around, but if it moves an inch or two while you are jamming your hand in there I’m going to let it slide.
Once it’s moving then it’s hands off.
Finally if there were things that could have become pinning or entanglement I’ll tell the team after the match as a friendly warning that I’m there and I’m watching.
Hey Foster, you forgot a few more DQ’s that our kids did over this season.
a) Frustratingly pushing a dead robot thus imparting energy to send elements to score in the corner (illegal in any game, not just Gateway)
b) grabbing a dangling battery as it dragged on the floor (saving the connector on the battery is noble but still illegal)
c) preloading two barrels instead of one barrel and one ball
d) This may be in Foster’s #6 but doing a Monty Python “Black Knight” impersonation after tipping over by moving your arm to block/entangle the other robot. Come back you coward! (We’ll call that one a draw)
e) Dumping the other alliance color’s game elements outside the field perimeter “accidentally”
f) and the best one, loading the other alliance’s robot with the doubler barrel! Not only did you give them the doubler, but you are DQ’d as well for itneracting with the other alliance’s robot! (The mere stupidity of this action should have been enough of a punishment. A DQ seemed extra harsh, but them’s the rules)
I missed that one, must have been a week that I was a judge. I’m glad I wasn’t a ref, I’m going to guess that I would have been laughing too hard to remember the DQ :rolleyes:
My team recently got disqualified at the Latin American Championship. In the final match our alliance partner tipped over, unfortunately, this happened over the gate. The end result was that the robot’s arm was touching the opponent’s isolation zone- instant DQ :mad:.
At important (i.e. qualifying) tournaments they do. At monthly scrimmages they often don’t. Most people can recognise each team’s robot so they don’t really need flags, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to use them. It’s just a hassle.
Yes, the velcro straps are definitely a rule. That said, I don’t think there are any velcro straps left in the whole of NZ, because the rule was never enforced at the informal events earlier in the season and the straps just all got lost.
Ah yes the Velcro strap. A fine example of retro-engineering. They are a pain and we had them laying in the field for a few events and then stopped using them. We’ve never had a gate bang back down on the field during play without the straps.
I’ll need to remind our teams that they need to practice with the straps for worlds.
At the competitions I’ve seen, the straps are left wrapped around one pole of the gate at the end of the match. Then, when teams go to lift the gate, the strap is squeezed between the two poles, and it becomes nearly impossible to pull it out. Most teams end up holding their gate.
For me? as a emcee and a referee, here’s what I saw, listed in order of popularity:
Not lifting the gate, even with warnings at 35 seconds from the judges/referees.
Introducing the doubler and/or negator barrel before 30 seconds. (in one instance, both teams on the red alliance introduced it beforehand. Can you be double-DQ’d?)
Stepping on the field (believe it or not, when a robot hasn’t moved, students have a tendency to step on the field while trying to fix it. I mean, I know you don’t like leaning over, but really?)
Pinning (surprisingly, this wasn’t as aggressive as I thought, or maybe the kids in my region just listen when the referee and judges start yelling at them. imagine that. ;))
Entanglement (purposely closing arms around another robot, intentionally trying to stop them from scoring.)
Probably the most common for my region is:
-Introducing the negator and doubler early and/or moving it once it’s been placed
-Not lifting the gate in time (are referees don’t really give you a warning about this rule by the end of the year, it’s kind of a given that you should know it by then)
-Pinning and entangling
-Touching the robot once it has left the tile (usually to plug something back in or switch batteries)
Yeah, I think that the black metal bracket that the gate clips into when it’s raised is enough to hold it up. We rarely play Isolation, though, so we’ll have to keep the straps in mind if we do.
I’ve read every post to the Q&A this season, and I spend my Saturdays explaining the rules to teams and tournament directors and I’ve never read that “applying force to match loads” is a DQ offense. If you know where this came from, can you direct me to the Q&A post or rule?
