For Background
SG3:
Keep Balls on your side in Autonomous. Balls that start fully on one side of the Autonomous
Line may not contact the foam tiles on the opposite side of the Autonomous Line during the Autonomous Period.
SG7:
Use Balls to play the game. Balls may not be used to accomplish actions that would be
otherwise illegal if they were attempted by Robot mechanisms (e.g., Interfering with an opponent’s
Autonomous Period per .)
The intent of this rule is to prohibit teams from using game objects as “gloves” to loophole any rule that states “a Robot may not [do some action]”. This rule is not intended to be taken in its most extreme literal interpretation, where any interaction between a Ball and a Robot needs to be scrutinized with the same intensity as if it were a robot.
So after seeing this would a robot be able to shoot a ball into the opposing alliance side’s scoring zone?
- With a preload, as it wouldn’t be touching the foam tile
- With a ball in the center as it is not affected by SG3
The counter I have heard to this being legal is SG7, as since a robot crossing the line and placing a ball into the opposing zone would normally be considered illegal, and transferring this onto the ball could make shooting into the opponents side illegal. Yet in my mind it is legal as long as the intention is not to shoot the robot.
The point of this would be to shoot a ball into the opposite sides corner allowing an alliance to end auto with two scored rows and stop the opposing alliance from being able to score their wp.