This weekend at states my team was in quarter finals and ahead by 10 points. Then our alliance partner knocked a green out of the small tower by accidentally by hitting the pole of the tower and it landed on the line of the inter protected zone. The ref cited SG7 to disqualify us. Is this a fair ruling?
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Was the robot pushed into the pole or did they drive into it? Did the cube hit another robot before going in the inner protected zone? was the cube already at rest in the cup or did someone just putting it in as your teammate hit it? This year you need so much context to make an accurate ruling.
Wouldn’t this count as indirect contact with the inner protected zone?
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Another rule (please someone mention it’s name because I can’t find it) states that no matter what (disconnection, tipping over, or breaking) you are always responsible for its actions.
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According to the rules, yes. There have been Q&A responses confirming this scenario is a violation, as the cube is an extension of the robot. The robot of an opposing alliance contacting the inner protected zone is an instant dq, regardless of intention or match affecting, and because the cube is an extension of the bot, it counts as a dq. It is a terrible rule if you ask me, as it does not fill the purpose of rules, which is to facilitate fair play.
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the rule you are trying to cite is g12 part C. This rule is why I asked the questions I did. If you are forced into a penalty you are not responsible for it and it would not be a dq (G14).
They drove into the pole. The cube didn’t hit any other robots. And The cube was at rest.
So then yes it would be a dq because they were not forced to do anything and the cube was not impacted by another team.
Splitting hairs…
Causing a cube to enter your opposing alliance’s IPZ is an SG3 violation because of SG7
SG7 Use Cubes to play the game. Cubes may not be used to accomplish actions that would be otherwise illegal if they were attempted by Robot mechanisms. Examples include (but are not limited to):
• Encroaching upon an opponent’s Protected Zone per SG3.
And it’s kind of tricky, unless I’m mistaken, the white tape line isn’t part of the inner protected zone. Having a cube roll onto the line but not breaking the vertical volume past the white tape line should be ok, past the white line is a DQ. Only the referee could really assess if the cube was in the IPZ or not.
The disqualification at state was for SG3 and SG7, my team and I were at the competition and did see what happened it seemed to be a fair call by the refs.
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It was a horrible way to get eliminated. I can say for certain the driver that caused the DQ has taken full responsibility and weight of the DQ on his shoulders. He is heartbroken and devastated for his teammates and for Sky Net. He also knows this was the correct ruling. At the end of the day the 2 best teams won State on Saturday and are the best teams to be representing CO at Worlds. Sky Net you are a great team and deserved to compete in the finals. To the opposing competitors, coaches, and parents thank you for the sympathy, support, and kind words you showed these heartbroken kids. To the ref who had the horrible job of making this call, in this moment the right call was made. Also thank you for giving up your Saturdays and who knows how many more days and hours to make this season happen. A time stamp link to the incident for your viewing pleasure. VEX Robotics Colorado State Championship Middle School - YouTube
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Unfortunately, yes, using a game element to do something your robot can’t do is illegal and could result in a DQ on a case to case basis. In this case, a cube accidently falling into the inner protected zone is most likely a DQ especially if it was match affecting.
There is a table, three posts above you, that is copied from the manual and it shows that it doesn’t matter if it was match affecting or not.
I hope that in the future the GDC will try to get away from anything that will automatically DQ a team if not match affecting. This IPZ has been a bit of a nightmare…
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