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The Q&A is closed for the 2021-2022 season. Any rule changes or clarifications pertaining to the 2022 VEX Robotics World Championship will be included in the April 5 Game Manual Update. Teams attending VEX Worlds who wish to pre-submit questions for the driver's meeting should have received a contact form via email; if not, please contact your REC Foundation Team Engagement Manager for more information.

Official Q&A: VRC 2021-2022: Tipping Point

Usage Guidelines All Questions

818: What plastic parts are considered as part of the platform?

6210A
16-Jul-2021

Background:

There are several places where "contacting the platform" is important for determining if objects are scored (or not scored), start of the match, and to determine SG3 violations.

Therefore it is important to know how much of the black plastic (or blue or red plastic tubes) are part of the platform:

The Issue:

There is conflicting info in the game manual about what constitutes the entire platform:

On page 12; Platform is defined as 53.0” x 20.1” which would indicate that the platform is the entire structure including all the supporting black, red and blue plastic parts.

However the next sentence says "The Platform is mounted on a double hinge" which infers that the double hinge and the support towers are NOT part of the platform.

Questions:

  1. Are the blue or red plastic tubes and black tube connector pieces that support the clear plastic sheet included as part of the platform?

  2. Are the double hinge pieces included as part of the platform?

  3. Are the black plastic towers that support the double hinges (and rest on the foam tiles) included as part of the platform?

Thank You.

Answered by committee

  1. Are the blue or red plastic tubes and black tube connector pieces that support the clear plastic sheet included as part of the platform?

  2. Are the double hinge pieces included as part of the platform?

  3. Are the black plastic towers that support the double hinges (and rest on the foam tiles) included as part of the platform?

All supporting structures, including the red/blue PVC pipes, black plastic parts, screws/nuts/etc, are intended to be considered part of the Platform for all scoring and G/SG rules. We will be sure to clarify this in a future Game Manual Update.

Edit: In version 2.0 of the Game Manual, the definition of Platform was updated such that this answer is no longer correct. The new definition of Platform reads as follows:

Platform - The 53.0” x 20.1” (1,346.2mm x 511mm) hinged polycarbonate device and the attached red or blue PVC pipes (highlighted below in Figure 17), located in each Alliance Home Zone, that sits 9.5” (241.5mm) high off of the ground when Balanced. The Platform is attached to a double hinge that allows it to tip towards the field in either direction.

With this new definition, the answer to the original questions are as follows:

  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. No