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Official Q&A: VRC 2018-2019: Turning Point

Usage Guidelines All Questions

163: Programming Skills: Ending Early

244A
28-Nov-2018

The rules state:

Programming Skills Match – A Programming Skills Match consists of a sixty (60) second Autonomous Period. There is no Driver Controlled Period. Teams can elect to end their run early, however this will count as an official run.

A team asked if they were to program their robot to drive over the platforms if they can then request to end the match while they are top. This appears to be allowed by the rules, however isn't really programming. So G2 may apply here:

G2 Use common sense. When reading and applying the various rules in this document, please remember that common sense always applies in the VEX Robotics Competition.

Can teams stop early as a strategic advantage (to stay on a platform, avoid descoring a flag, avoid to touch a cap, etc.)? Or should the robot run to completion, and then, only if their completion is shorter than the 60 seconds (most are), they are allowed to end early?

Thanks.

G2   Robot Skills Challenge  
Answered by Game Design Committee

The verbiage, "Teams can elect to end their run early", is intended to give Teams and event staff an option to end a run if a Robot's autonomous routine does not take the full 60 seconds. Usually, this occurs once the Robot has stopped moving.

It is not intended to provide an option for teams to strategically stop the Match and/or disable their Robot while it is still moving. Such a stop would be considered a human input, and would violate the spirit of the Programming Skills Challenge.

Appendix B defines a Programming Skills Match as follows:

Programming Skills Match – A Programming Skills Match consists of a sixty (60) second Autonomous Period. There is no Driver Controlled Period.

Appendix B also includes the following line:

Please note that all rules from “The Game” section of the manual apply to the Robot Skills Challenge, unless otherwise specified.

With this in mind, G9 reads as follows:

<G9> Autonomous means “no humans”. During the Autonomous Period, Drive Team Members are not permitted to interact with the Robot in any way, directly or indirectly. This could include, but is not limited to:

• Activating any controls on their VEXnet Joysticks or V5 Controllers.

• Unplugging or disconnecting from the field in any way.

• Triggering sensors (including the Vision Sensor) in any way, even without touching them.

Just as unplugging from the field would be considered a human interaction per G7, ending a Programming Skills Match early with the intention of stopping a Robot on the Center Platform using the field control's "disable" command would be considered a human interaction.