Page 9 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics, Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up Strategies aimed solely at the destruction, damage, tipping over, or Entanglement of Robots are not part of the ethos of the VEX Robotics Competition and are not allowed. However, VEX Toss Up is an interactive game. Some incidental tipping, Entanglement, and damage may occur as a part of normal game play. If the tipping, Entanglement, or damage is ruled to be intentional or egregious, the offending team may be disqualified from that Match. Repeated offenses could result in a team being Disqualified from the remainder of the competition. VEX Toss Up is intended to be an offensive game. Teams that partake in solely defensive strategies will undergo extra scrutiny in regards to . In the case where referees are forced to make a judgment call on interaction between a defensive and offensive Robot, the referees will err on the side of the offensive Robot. a. Robots which have expanded horizontally in an effort to obstruct the field will undergo even more scrutiny under , and will not be protected under . e.g. If you choose to undertake this type of strategy, your robot should be built to withstand vigorous interaction. i. Furthermore, teams that undertake this type of obstructive strategy would not be protected by . e.g. There is no penalty for pinning a “wall-bot”. All teams are responsible for the actions of their Robots. This goes for teams who are driving recklessly and potentially causing damage, but also goes for teams who drive around with a small wheel base and arm extended. Teams should design their Robots such that they are not easily tipped over or damaged by minor contact. Robots must be designed to permit easy removal of Scoring Objects from any grasping mechanism without requiring that the Robot have power after the Match. Field tolerances may vary by as much as ±1”, except where otherwise noted, so teams must design their Robots accordingly. Replays are at the discretion of the event partner and head referee, and will only be issued in the most extreme circumstances. All teams must adhere to all VEX Robotics Competition Rules as they are written, and must abide by the listed intent of the rules. Every team has the opportunity to ask for official rules interpretations in the VEX Robotics Competition Question & Answer Forum. Any responses in this Q&A forum should be treated as official rulings from the VEX Robotics Competition Game Design Committee, and represent the correct and official interpretation of the VEX Robotics Competition Rules. There may also be periodic “Team Updates” posted on the VEX Toss Up webpage in the competition section of www.vexrobotics.com. These updates are also “official” parts of the VEX Toss Up rules. The VEX Robotics Competition Question & Answer Forum can be found at www.vexforum.com, or directly at http://www.vexrobotics.com/Toss_Up. All teams are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner while competing in VEX Robotics Competition events. If team members are disrespectful or uncivil to event staff, volunteers or fellow competitors, they may be Disqualified from their current or upcoming Match. It is important to remember that we are all judged based on how we deal with adversity. It is important that we all exhibit maturity and class when dealing with any difficult situations that may present themselves in both the VEX Robotics Competition and life in general. All rules in this manual are subject to changes, and not considered official until June 1 . 2013. We do not expect any major changes to take place, however we do reserve the right to make changes until st June 1 , 2013. st Page 10 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics, Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up VEX Toss Up Specific Game Rules At the beginning of each Match, each Robot must be placed such that it is touching one of their colored Alliance Starting Tiles, not touching any Scoring Object other than those permitted by and not touching any other foam field tiles or the Bump. No more than one Robot may start the match on any one Alliance Starting Tile. (See figures 8 & 9) Legal Starting Position Illegal Starting Position Figures 9 & 10: A legal, and illegal starting position Prior to the start of each Match, each Robot will have one (1) BuckyBall available as a Preload. A BuckyBall is considered to be legally preloaded if it is touching the Robot or the Alliance Starting Tile and not touching any other foam tiles or the Bump. (See figures 10 & 11) Illegal Preload Legal Preload Illegal Preload Legal Preload Legal Preload Figures 11 - 13: From left to right, legal Preload, legal Preload, illegal Preload Page 11 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics, Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up A Robot cannot Pin or Trap an opposing Robot for more than five seconds during the Driver Controlled Period. A Pin or Trap is officially over once the Pinning team has moved away from the teams are separated by at least 2 feet (approximately one (1) foam tile). After ending a Pin or Trap, a team may not Pin or Trap the same Robot again for a duration of 5 seconds. If a referee determines this rule to be violated, the offending Robot will be Disqualified for the match. There is no penalty for Pinning during the Autonomous Period. During the Autonomous Period, Drivers and Coaches may handle their own Robot while the Robot is in contact with their own Alliance Starting Tile (i.e. the tile the Robot started the match on), and not touching the Bump, within the following restrictions. i. Drivers and Coaches may only interact with a Robot if it is touching their own Alliance Starting Tile and no part of the Robot is touching a gray foam tile, except the interaction allowed in ii. If any part of a Robot is touching a grey foam tile, the only interaction that will be allowed is to bring the Robot fully into the legal Alliance Starting Tile, into a legal position as per iii. After any legal interaction with the robot by Drivers and Coaches, and prior to the robot attempting to score or interact with Game Objects, the robot must be in a position such that it is touching the legal Alliance Starting Tile and no part of the Robot is touching a gray foam tile; a legal position as per . i.e. Before the Robot leaves the Alliance Starting Tile, Drivers and Coaches may not be touching the robot. If Drivers and Coaches touch the Robot again, it must be touching a legal Alliance Starting Tile and it must immediately be brought fully back onto the tile. Note: Robots that hang over the edge of the Alliance Starting Tile, but do not touch any gray foam tiles, are considered to be in legal positions for interaction as per iv. Drivers and Coaches may only interact with a Robot if they are on or in the general vicinity of the Alliance Robot Interaction Spot that corresponds to the Alliance Starting Tile the Robot is on. During contact with the Robot, the Drivers or Coaches may not intentionally manipulate or modify the position of any Scoring Objects relative to the Robot’s overall system, either by direct hand contact or indirect contact via the Robot. (i.e. it is acceptable to change the orientation of a Robot that includes Scoring Objects in it as long as the position of the elements relative to the Robot is not changed). Drivers or Coaches also may not change the configuration of the Robot in any way other than in the act of fixing the Robot (i.e. it is okay to reposition the robot relative to the field, but it is not okay to manually lift up the Robot's arm, unless you are in the act of a repair). Any changes to the Robot’s configuration performed during the act of repair must be reversed before the Robot can leave the Alliance Starting Tile. The intent of this rule is to allow teams to fix Robots that are unable to move, to reposition and/or reorient Robots, and to activate additional autonomous modes by interacting with the Robot via sensors or buttons. The intent of this rule is not to allow teams to manipulate their Robot in such a way that they are controlling the Robot via human contact or creating motions that lead to scoring. Violations of this rule will result in a warning for minor offenses which do not affect the match. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams who receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee's discretion. Page 12 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics, Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up During the Driver Controlled Period, Drivers and Coaches may handle their own Robot as long as the robot has never left the Alliance Starting Tile. The intent of this rule is to allow teams to fix Robots which were unable to move at the start of the Match. Violations of this rule will result in a warning for minor offenses which do not affect the match. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams who receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee's discretion. Note: During the handling specified in And robots may be repositioned, but must be returned to a valid starting position as per . Note: Drivers and Coaches may only interact with a Robot if they are on or in the general vicinity of the Alliance Robot Interaction Spot that corresponds to the Alliance Starting Tile the Robot is on. Robots are not permitted to break the plane of their opponents Alliance Starting Tile during the Autonomous Period. Violations of this rule will result in the offending Alliance automatically losing the Autonomous Bonus and the offending Robot being disabled. Once there is less than thirty (0:30) seconds remaining in the match, Robots may not touch an opposing Robot that is touching their own Hanging Bar or Hanging Structure. Additionally, Robots may not touch the opposing Alliance’s Hanging Bar or Hanging Structure during this time period. Violations of this rule will result in a warning for minor offenses which do not affect the match. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee's discretion. Robots may not Possess more than three (3) BuckyBalls at once. Violations of this rule will result in a warning for minor offenses which do not affect the match. Egregious (match affecting) offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the head referee's discretion. Robots may not intentionally grasp, grapple or attach to any Field Elements with the exception of the Bar. Strategies with mechanisms that react against multiple sides of a field element in an effort to latch onto said field element are prohibited. (See figures 8-10) The intent of this rule is to prevent teams from both unintentionally damaging the field, and from anchoring themselves to the field. Special attention will be paid to any teams interacting with the Hanging Structure. Violations of this rule will result in a Disqualification. Figures 14-16: From left to right, overhead views of illegal, illegal and legal interactions with field elements as per . Black lines represent robot parts; the grey circles represent field elements. Page 13 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics, Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up 3 The main challenge of the VEX Robotics Competition will be played in a tournament format. Each tournament will include Practice, Qualifying, and Elimination Matches. After the Qualifying Matches, teams will be ranked based on their performance. The top teams will then participate in the Elimination Matches to determine the tournament champions. S E C T I O N The Tournament Overview Tournament Definitions Alliance Captain – A student chosen to represent their team during Alliance Selection for the final Elimination Matches. Alliance Selection – The process of choosing the permanent alliances for the Elimination Matches. Disqualification – A penalty applied to a team for a rules violation. When a team is disqualified in a Qualifying Match they receive zero (0) WP and SP. When a team is disqualified in an Elimination Match the entire alliance is disqualified and they receive a loss for the match. Elimination Match – A match used to determine the championship alliance. Alliances of three face off in a best two of three series, with two teams playing in each match. The first alliance to win two matches will proceed to the next round. Practice Match – An un-scored match used to provide time for teams to get acquainted to the official playing field. Qualifying Match – A match used to determine the rankings for the Alliance Selection. Alliances compete to earn Win Points and Strength of Schedule Points. Strength of Schedule Points (SP) – The second basis of ranking teams. Strength of Schedule Points are awarded in the amount of the score of the losing alliance in a Qualifying Match. Win Points (WP) – The first basis of ranking teams. Win Points are awarded for winning (two points) and tying (one point) a Qualifying Match. Practice Matches At the event Practice Matches may be played in the morning during the team registration time until the drivers meeting begins. Every effort will be made to equalize practice time for all teams, but they may be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis. These matches are not scored, and will not affect team ranking. Qualifying Matches Schedule • The Qualifying Match schedule will be available prior to opening ceremonies on the day of competition. This schedule will indicate alliance partners and match pairings. It will also indicate the alliance’s color – red or blue. For tournaments with multiple fields, the schedule will also indicate which field the match will take place on. • The Qualifying Matches will start immediately after opening ceremonies in accordance with the qualifying match schedule. • Teams will be randomly assigned an alliance partner to compete against two randomly assigned opponents in each Qualifying Match. Page 14 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up • All teams will be scored on the same number of Qualifying Matches. • In some cases, a team will be asked to play in an additional Qualifying Match, but will not receive credit for playing this extra match. Rankings • At the conclusion of each match, Win Points (WP) will be issued: o Winning teams of a Qualifying Match receive two (2) WP o Losing teams of a Qualifying Match receive zero (0) WP o If a Qualifying Match ends in a tie, all four teams receive one (1) WP o If a team is Disqualified they receive zero (0) WP • All teams in each Qualifying Match will also receive Strength of Schedule Points (SP). o The number of SP assigned for each match, is that of the losing alliance’s score. o In the event of a tie, both alliances will receive the same SP (equal to the tie score). o If a team is disqualified they receive zero (0) SP o If both teams on an alliance are Disqualified, the teams on the winning Alliance will be awarded their own score as their SP for that match. • For a Qualifying Match, if no member of a team is present in the driver station at the start of a match, that team is declared a “no show” and will receive zero (0) WP and zero (0) SP. A “no show” is treated exactly the same as a Disqualification. Page 15 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up Elimination Matches • The Alliance Selection process will consist of two rounds of selection, such that eight alliance captains will form elimination alliances consisting of three teams. • These eight alliances will participate in a tournament to determine the event champions. • If a team is Disqualified during an Elimination Match, then their entire alliance is Disqualified, and the match will be recorded as a loss. Alliance Selection Process • Every team will choose a student to act as a team representative. o These student representatives will proceed to the playing field at the designated time to represent their teams in the Alliance Selection. There will be eight alliances formed in the Alliance Selection. In order of tournament ranking, the student representative of the highest ranked team not already in an alliance will be asked to step forward as an Alliance Captain to invite another available team to join their alliance. A team is available if they are not already part of an alliance, or have not already declined an alliance invitation. o If the team accepts, it is moved into that alliance. o If a team declines an invitation, they CANNOT be invited into another alliance, but are still available to select their own alliance if the opportunity arises. o If a team declines, the Alliance Captain from the inviting team must then extend another invitation. This process will continue until all eight Alliance Captains have been designated and chosen one alliance partner. The same method is used for each Alliance Captain's second choice. Teams will select in the same order they did in the first round. Any teams remaining after alliance eight makes their second choice will not compete in the Elimination Matches. Some smaller events may choose to use a different alliance format to better suit the number of teams, please see the event modification section of this document for more details. Match Ladder The Elimination Matches will play in a ladder format as shown below. Page 16 Copyright 2013. VEX Robotics Inc. 04/11/13 VEX Robotics Competition – Toss Up Elimination Scoring In the elimination rounds, teams do not get Win Points; they get a win, loss or tie. Within each bracket of the Elimination Match Ladder, matches will be played to determine which alliance advances, as follows: • The first alliance to win two matches advances. • Any tied matches will be replayed until one alliance has two wins, and advances. Tournament Rules Referees have ultimate authority during the competition. Their rulings are final. a. The referees will not review any recorded replays. b. Any questions for the referees must be brought forward by a student drive team member within the time period of two (2) qualifying matches or immediately after the score is announced of an elimination match. The only people from a team permitted by the playing field are the three drive team members who are identified by the drive team badges. These badges are interchangeable but not during a match. During matches, two teams from an alliance will play on the field. Any team which sits out the first match in an elimination series, must play in the second match, with no exceptions. In the third and any subsequent matches, any two of the three teams may play. Prior to each Elimination Match, the Alliance Captain must let the referee know which two teams will be playing in the upcoming match. There are no time outs in the qualifying rounds; in the elimination rounds, each alliance will be allotted ONE time out of no more than three minutes, as permitted by the head referee. The matches must progress according to schedule. a. If a robot cannot report for a match, at least one member of the team should report to the field for the match. All team members, including coaches, must wear safety glasses or glasses with side shields while in the pit or alliance stations during matches. While in the pit area it is highly recommended that all team members wear safety glasses.