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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

868: How should "match affecting" be calculated for an SG6 violation?

6210A
24-Sep-2021

Background:

SG6 says: Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the Match will result in a warning. Match Affecting offenses will result in a Disqualification.

The Issue:

Because of the relatively few mobile goals, there are often times when a robot's best strategic option is to descore an opponent's alliance mobile goal. When this is done while the mobile goal has rings on or in it, there is a chance that the rings will fall off/out.

Here is a example match: With just a few seconds left in the match; a blue alliance robot picks up a red mobile goal (which is full of red rings) from the red home zone and moves it into the neutral zone, denying the red alliance those 20 points, and while this being is done, a ring falls off the branch of the red mobile goal, causing the loss of 3 points. So, an SG6 violation has certainly occurred, now referees will have to determine if it is "match affecting" or not. For this example the score of the match is then tabulated and it is found that the blue alliance has won by 10 points.

There are two ways a referee could interpret the above match:

  1. The ring illegally removed from the red mobile goal is only worth 3 points, which is less than the score differential, so it is NOT "match affecting" and there is no disqualification of the blue robot, Blue Wins!

  2. The interaction with the red mobile goal caused the ring to be removed, therefore the affect of that was to remove 23 total points from the red alliance, so it IS "match affecting", the blue robot is disqualified, Red Wins!

Question:

When determining whether a DQ is warranted for an SG6 violation, is it only the value of the descored rings that are counted to determine if the violation is match affecting?

Thank You.

Answered by committee

Thank you for the detailed writeup of this hypothetical scenario. The full text of SG6 reads as follows, for reference:

<SG6> Rings on the Alliance Mobile Goal are “safe”. Strategies intended to remove Rings which are Scored on or in an opposing Alliance Mobile Goal are prohibited. Examples of “intentional strategies” could include, but are not limited to:

• Robot mechanisms or actions solely intended to “lift off” Rings from Mobile Goal Branches.

• Robot mechanisms or actions solely intended to “scoop out” Rings from Mobile Goal Bases.

• “Knocking over” or otherwise forcefully manipulating an Alliance Mobile Goal such that Rings become removed.

Minor violations of this rule 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.

The definition of Match Affecting reads as follows:

Match Affecting – A rule violation status determined by the Head Referee. A rule violation is Match Affecting if it changes the winning and losing Alliance in the Match. Multiple rule violations within a Match can cumulatively become Match Affecting.

In general, as noted in the definition, the "Match Affecting" determination only refers to the rule itself that was violated.

In this hypothetical scenario, the act of moving a Mobile Goal out of an Alliance Home Zone is not a violation of any rules; the removal of the Scored Rings is a violation of SG6. Therefore, your first interpretation is correct, and this hypothetical scenario should result in a warning.

That being said, as always, multiple warnings may lead to a Disqualification at the Head Referee's discretion. A Team who is frequently utilizing this strategy should be aware of the risk they are taking in doing so.