Defense Rules Clarifications

VEX Robotics Competition Discussion VRC > Turning Point (18/19)
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Question 1: Is it legal to bump into someone while they are scoring? (While shooting a ball or stacking a cap?) I bumped into a catapult but at the finals of States to cause them to miss completely, to which I received a warning. Should I have gotten a warning?

Question 2: We have a rammer on our bot, so is it legal to push a robot off the top platform, even if it flips over (potentially causing damage to the robot)?

ALSO, if anyone knows where the tournament schedule (matches, times, etc) for worlds is located, please put the link below.

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  1. Yes. You should not have gotten a warning unless it was done over and over, with no attempt at offense being played.
  2. If they are on the yellow platform, yes. Otherwise, no.
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So basically, all rules about robot contact are thrown out the window when the contact is happening on the top platform? Also, is it only legal on the top, can you ram of the alliance platforms?

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From my understanding, you can push but not flip on the alliance platforms. Not all rules are thrown out for the top platform, but most are. Still no entanglement or excessive intent to destroy (Battlebot style), but pushing and flipping still works.

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my old, false statement

I’m assuming these haven’t been released yet (until after checkin)

Edit: I’m wrong, they are on vexvia and robotevents.

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https://vexdb.io/
Try this. It could change, but search your team number, then go to results, then you should find your worlds schedule there.

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For reference, here are the sections of rule <G12> regarding interaction with a robot on the center platform:

Note 1: Alliances who attempt to utilize the Center Platform should expect vigorous interactions
from opponent Robots. When a Robot is contacting or engaging with the Center Platform,
incidental damage that is caused by opponent Robots pushing, tipping, or Entangling with them
would not be considered a violation of <G12>. Intentional damage or dangerous mechanisms
may still be considered a violation of <R3>, <S1>, or <G1> at the Head Referee’s discretion.

Note 2: Damage caused by indirect contact with the Center Platform is included in Note 1. In
Figure 21, if “BLUE1” pushes “RED1” off the Center Platform and this interaction causes damage
to “RED2”, then “BLUE1” would not be penalized. This was a legal interaction between “BLUE1”
and “RED1”, which resulted in indirect damage to “RED2”.

So, you have more leniency to tip/entangle opponent robots on the center platform, but intentionally damaging robots is never OK.

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You will probably find quite a bit of insight into the answer to Question 2 in this thread, especially toward the end:

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