<PSC1> A team may handle their Robot as many times as they want during a Programming Skills Match.
a. Upon handling the Robot, it must be immediately brought back to a legal starting position
b. If the Robot is possessing any Scoring Object when the Robot is being handled, these Scoring Objects will be removed from the playing field and can no longer be used
In reading this rule, there does not appear any limit as to where a student may begin handling a robot, as long as it is immediately brought back to a legal starting position. In other words, a student can pick up the robot from anywhere on the field and quickly place it in one of the two starting positions in a legal starting position, correct?
One of our teams was DQ’d from a Programming Skills attempt because they moved the robot from a position on the field that was well outside of the starting position and placed it into a legal starting position. They were told that the robot had to at least be touching the starting location before they could handle it.