In this image, the red bot is pulling two triballs with its wings backwards. The wings form a concave surface with the bot at the corners, but the triballs are in contact with the flat part of the wings, not the corner. Is this plowing or possession?
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It is plowing, as the triballs are contacting the flat portion of the wings, and not the concave part (nor through a chain of triballs). The team seems to not intend to be possessing, and if the robot turns, the triballs likely will not move with the robot. However, once it goes to that corner, I would consider it possession.
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You said it yourself, its plowing because ur pushing triballs with a flat surface. 
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I feel like the possetion rules are very confusing. In the prevoius seasons, have there been ābadā rules?
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Think of it this way: is the team intending to control multiple triballs in way that is not plowing (such as turning with 3 triballs being carried through the turn)? And in the words of the GDC: will the triballs turn with the robot? (or is the robot intending to turn?) I get your confusion though, as discerning someoneās āintentionsā (aka mind reading) gets very hard for the GDC to give a black and white ruling on.
Could you elaborate (confusion causing, conflicting, āboringā rules, etc.)? There may have been some rules that the GDC did not foresee the consequences of (such as that nice horizontal expansion in the Spin Up reveal video versus the refās nightmare of string shooters). I myself have not been around very long, but some mentors here have good memory of that.
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lolā¦ thatās an understatementā¦
but to be fair, not so much of ābadā rules, but rules that can be confusing or open for various interpretations.
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that is what I had in mind
Sorry, thereās an EXACT copy of this on the q/a and the ruling was POSSESSION.
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https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2023-2024/QA/1610
I know it probably isnāt the exact one (could you post the link please?), but the GDC defines plowing as:
āPlowing - A Robot / Triball status. A Robot is considered to be Plowing Triballs if the Robot is intentionally moving them in a preferred direction with a flat or convex face of the Robot.ā
The team above seems to not use a concave fasce of the robot, but a flat face of their robot to manipulate triballs. However, once a triball goes into that corner, it would be possession.
āThe difference between Possession and Plowing is analogous to the difference between the terms ācontrollingā and āmovingā.ā
The team above seems to not intend to control the triball, rather they seem to just be moving them.
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To help understand better, point a Q&A
https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2023-2024/QA/1610
It would be considered two concave surfaces - as a result of turning the two would likely turn in the preferred direction with the robot.
I think referees would not call you for momentary moving straight backwards, but if the robot turns and brings both with them it is a hard possession call.
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It was late, and yes, thatās the q/a that addressed this exact scenario.
If Iām refāing the match with this botā¦ youād better move STRAIGHT back and NOT turn. Better yet, write code that moves the arms UP when the robot moves backwards over a couple of inches.
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So I found a Q&A that actually has a diagram of the exact situation (https://www.robotevents.com/VRC/2023-2024/QA/1791), and it states that this isnāt necessarily possession but instead it falls into a gray zone.
The longer thought on thisā¦
Are other bots equipped w/ similar mechanisms?
Yes
Will you probably (note I said probably) be ok if you donāt abuse it?
Yes
That saidā¦ we all know that matches are frantic to say the least. A ref does not have the ability to watch your bot 100% of the time to clearly determine intent if you are caught backing/turning and appearing to intentionally āsteerā the skittles (thatās what I call them).
If you catch your driver doing this in practiceā¦ then they w/ probably do this in competition and, whether caught or not, be in violation of the letter and spirit of the rules.
Actually, that one does notā¦ 
Look bottom line test is this - is the robot moving triballs in preferred direction? are there concave surfaces that the team are using to accomplish this scoring ā¦ not so gray if it is repeated.
I have the luxury of no longer having to worry about this as our championships are over and I am not a referee at Worlds.
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Additionallyā¦ some of the robots/sketches in the q/a listed are exempt (specifically the clawbot picture) as they can only control one skittle at a timeā¦ which is allowed.
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