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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

968: Last 30 seconds, SG3b Confirmation


96969W
9-Dec-2021

SG3b For the purposes of this rule, <G13> supersedes rule <G14>. Any Robot which is contacting its own Platform, provided that no other rules are being violated, will automatically receive the “benefit of the doubt”. Therefore, any contact with this Robot will be considered a violation, regardless of intent.

The statement states, provided that no other rules are being violated Am I correct in understanding this as, if a team is hoarding goals in the last 30 seconds, or they are pinning or trapping an opposing robot in their zone in the last 30 seconds, that pinning, trapping, or hoarding still need to be called out? If none of the robots were touching the platform, for example pinning a red robot against the corner of the blue alliance area, does the referee still needs to count down the pinning?

What if these events of hoarding, pinning, or trapping occurred at the 32 second mark and continued into the last 30 seconds? Will this affect ruling?

Additionally, if a robot stopped working mid match, battery died, connector broke, whatever, and gets pushed or dragged into the opposing teams platform in the last 30 seconds , is that a penalty? Does where the robot stopped working matter? Or does this fall to the common sense rule? I would assume that dragging an opposing robot from the neutral zone or opposing alliance zone will be forcing a penalty, while if the opposing robot was in your zone, it could in theory be considered interfering with one's ability to utilize the balance.

Answered by committee

First - as quoted, the entirety of point "b" is intended to apply only to possible SG3 violations. The nature of SG3 could result in situations where it is difficult to tell offensive/defensive roles, or if an opponent was "forced" into a penalty or not. So, point "b" exists in an attempt to clear up any uncertainty, should a Match result in a questionable violation.

It is not intended to apply to all rules in the last 30 seconds of the Match.

Am I correct in understanding this as, if a team is hoarding goals in the last 30 seconds, or they are pinning or trapping an opposing robot in their zone in the last 30 seconds, that pinning, trapping, or hoarding still need to be called out? If none of the robots were touching the platform, for example pinning a red robot against the corner of the blue alliance area, does the referee still needs to count down the pinning?

If neither Robot is contacting the Platform, then SG3 is not in question, and normal gameplay rules should apply.

What if these events of hoarding, pinning, or trapping occurred at the 32 second mark and continued into the last 30 seconds? Will this affect ruling?

If no Platform contact is occurring, then the Match time is irrelevant, and normal gameplay rules should apply.

Additionally, if a robot stopped working mid match, battery died, connector broke, whatever, and gets pushed or dragged into the opposing teams platform in the last 30 seconds , is that a penalty?

Under the strictest interpretation of SG3-b, yes, this would be considered a violation. However, we would caution the offensive Team in question to be mindful of other rules such as G12, S1, G1, etc. We would hope that an Alliance in this 2v1 situation would not feel that they must resort to a questionably ethical strategic decision in order to beat a single opponent Robot.