Expansion Zone Location and white lines? I read lots of text that talks about expansion zones and penalties. We are new to VEX and maybe this is just common slang for previous VEX’rs, but I have no idea of Where the Expansion Zones are limited, or mapped out.
Can someone please tell me how we would know where we can expand and where we can’t. I do see the text that says you can’t be out of the 18" cube, I do see that you can’t be longer than 36" vertical, but what I do not see spelled out, is Where these zones are located.
I do see several white lines or double lines, is that what governs expansion zones? What are they if not.
Yes, I have looked in the manual and searched the forums and these specific answers I am not finding.
The expansion zone isn’t a common vex term, this is actually the first year it’s been part of the game since NBN. But white lines are standard- they’re the thin tape lines on the field. When you get your field, you’ll get some white tape that goes down in specific places. I’ve attached a picture of what the standard field should look like this season, white tape lines and all. (Credit to Jason for the renders.)
The expansion zone is “The area of the foam tile playing surface bounded by the outer edges of the
white tape lines and the inner edges of the field perimeter walls.” The indicated area in the other attachment is the expansion zone. (Gotta love the forums, the two images keep swapping places at random. Sorry ) This is also available on page 6 of the manual.
Welcome to vex!!!
Your robot at the start of the match must be less than 18" by 18" by 18".
If you are contacting the expansion zone, you may extend vertically as high as you want but must come back to below 18 inches tall when not contacting the expansion zone.
As for horizontal expansion, once the match starts, you can expand horizontally up to 36 inches, regardless of whether you are touching the expansion zone or not. Horizontal expansion has nothing to do with the expansion zone.
Also, the 2 lines of tape down the center separate the field in half and you cannot cross over these lines in autonomous. i.e. you must stay on your side of the field during autonomous mode. However, you can cross over the line during driver control mode.
If you expand vertically over 18 inches while not contacting the expansion zone, the referee may either give you a warning or dq you.
if you cross the white line in autonomous, the autonomous bonus is awarded to the opposite alliance regardless if you have a higher autonomous score.
The manual covers a majority of questions you may have
If you read it in detail there’s a picture specifically outlining where the expansion zone is
To further clarify, its the u shaped zone bordered by the white tape. As long as you are at least touching the tape, you can expand vertically past 18’'
) This is also available on page 6 of the manual.
