Is it an option for the head referee to clarify expectations of SG8 before qualification matches begin? This would be in reference to the following - The intent of this rule is to prevent Robots from “knocking” Caps out of the field to remove them from Posts. Any strategic, intentional, or repeated removal of Game Objects from the field would be considered a violation of this rule.
Examples of clarification would be-
- If your robot leverages a Pole scored Cap on the bottom side, from the field side only, this would be considered a violation of the note listed above. Reason for this is due to leverage from the field side only would result in knocking a Cap out of the field in most cases. Teams executing this move and "knocking" Caps out of the field, in this manner, will receive one warning and then be logged.
- It is not possible to assume the intent of a robot to correctly de-score a Cap from a Pole in all scenarios. With that said, a robot that is correctly attempting to take possession of a Cap to bring it back to the field drops it out of the field will be notified that multiple attempts in that nature will be viewed as "knocking" Caps out of play.
My reasoning for asking for this clarification is due to volunteering as a referee or emcee at multiple tournaments this year and having teams knock two or more Caps out of the field and saying that they were trying to bring it back into the field. In clarifying the head referees expectations, this lowers the potential of alliances disagreeing with how the match is called.
It is not my belief that the game designers desired to see the Poles empty at the end of matches. I have not seen a robot be able to score a Cap on a Pole anywhere near the same time it takes to knock that scored Cap out of the field.