OPEN LETTER TO THE ORGANIZERS OF THE US OPEN ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT AND VEX COMMUNITY, ALONG WITH
Hello, I am currently a VRC Middle School player who participated in the US Open. Many instances of game changing issues have been shown at the tournament, and I want to make them publicly understood.
1: Failure to properly display timers and the clutter it creates and proper enforcement of rules
The time limit during driving is one of the most challenging aspects of VEX. You need to decide what you can and can’t do. During the tournament, the field side monitors displaying the time was not properly positioned for the majority of the tournament. During one of the quarterfinal matches, it actually ADVERSELY affected gameplay, resulting in an incorrect call being made on the possession of the cube when it slid out of team Top Secret’s scoop-ing claw and collided with the monitor. Instead, the cube was placed on Dublin Robotics’ side and cost them the match. Had 21246G not went back for the cube that SHOULD have been placed on the opponent’s side, the scores would have been much different. I saw the team go and protest the placement of the timer, saying it was improperly placed (which was true, the container the computer was on had most of its area towards Top Secret’s side) and that no definite conclusion should have been made because of the uncertainty involving where the cube would have landed, which SHOULD HAVE warranted a replay. The head judge shut the idea down saying it was not the fault of the organizers and put the blame on Dublin Robotics for not accounting for the computer’s position, citing that CREATE has been doing this for a very long time and that every other tournament does the same thing.
Let me get something straight.
NOT EVERY TOURNAMENT HAS THAT OBSTRUCTING THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE FIELD
Besides, there is a MASSIVE SCREEN TO THE RIGHT SHOWING THE TIME IN BOLD, ALONG WITH AUDIO QUEUES.
It seems that the referees acknowledged their mistake, moving the computer further away from the field during the finals. (As seen as a member of the crowd, and on the web-cast.)
POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE:
Clutter should be removed from the field and its immediate vicinity. Judges need to be aware of inconsistencies that may occur. Rules in the rulebook need to be properly enforced as well.
2: Improperly functioning equipment and video evidence rules
Having tournament equipment in proper working order is of paramount importance. Failure to do so could result in random shutdowns and the improper functions being carried out. The CREATE foundation has failed in providing that environment on multiple occasions. Throughout the entire tournament, one of the middle school fields has shown consistent signs of damaged/malfunctioning equipment. During my first match, me and my ally’s VEXNET randomly disconnected at the same time, resulting in a small point deficit, while the opponents still had theirs functioning. (We still won that match either way, it would not have changed the outcome of the game, because if we had control during that period, we would have cleared the field much faster). During another one of my matches VEXNET disconnected for EVERYONE on the field for 2 seconds. During the one of the quarterfinal matches, the WHOLE FIELD shut down for 4-5 seconds, causing the autonomous period to lock up and putting one of the alliances at a massive disadvantage due to the way their time allocation is handled. That resulted in a massive downwards snowball for their alliance because of it. When the alliance that lost presented credible VIDEO evidence to the head judge, the head judge immediately said that it was the robot’s fault and that there was nothing wrong with the equipment while turning the video evidence away. (If it was the robot’s fault, then why did more than 1 robot fail at a time numerous times throughout the days of play on that ONE FIELD?) Luckily, they were good sports about it and accepted the loss, but if it was another alliance in that position, then it would have been much different.
POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE:
Deal with equipment problems instead of trying to blame it on other robots. The people need to look for obvious signals and present them to judges, but the judges need to know that technology is not 100% perfect. Also, that outdated rule on not accepting video replays needs to be REPEALED immediately.
Hopefully this message gets through to someone who understands the frustration these sorts of little things can create.