578: Bumping in the Unprotected Zone : Robot Events

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578: Bumping in the Unprotected Zone

Verena Brown

26-Feb-2020

So my question is: If a robot is in the process of scoring a stack while they are touching their barrier in the unprotected zone, can another robot from the opposing team push or bump them without being disqualified? Is this considered indirect contact? This is done intentionally to get the cubes out of the tray before they are scored. The opposing robot is not directly touching the goal zone or barrier.

SG3 States: <SG3> Stay away from your opponent’s protected areas. Robots may not intentionally or accidentally, directly or indirectly, perform the following actions:

B - Contact any Scored Cubes in either of opposing Alliance’s Goal Zones.

D - Contact either of the opposing Alliance’s Goal Zones or Barriers.

QA 352 was not clear on if the robot trying to score was touching the barrier in the unprotected zone.

We need to get this clarification before our High School State Championship.

Thanks

Answered by Game Design Committee

Thank you for quoting the relevant rule in your question.

Indirect contact with either of the opponent's Barriers is always a violation of SG3-D, as quoted.

Transitive contact through an opponent's Robot is considered "indirect contact".

Therefore, yes, contacting an opponent Robot who is contacting either of their own Barriers would be considered a violation of SG3-D.

Minor violations of points A, B, C, or D that do not affect the Match will result in a warning. Match Affecting offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the Head Referee’s discretion.

Therefore, to answer your root question - a violation of SG3-D is only a Disqualification when it is Match Affecting.

Official Q&A: VRC 2019-2020: Tower Takeover

578: Bumping in the Unprotected Zone