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Official Q&A: VRC 2022-2023: Spin Up

Usage Guidelines All Questions

1295: Field Displays <S2> <S1> <R4>

Doug Moyers (Event Partner)
12-Nov-2022

<SC2> states:

If a Robot comes in contact with anything outside of the field during the Endgame period or due to an early expansion, including the floor or the outside face of the Field Perimeter, it will automatically receive a Disqualification for that Match.

  1. If a Field Display is in use, is it considered outside the field perimeter, such that a team automatically receives a Disqualification if it contacts the field display during Endgame or due to an early expansion?

<S1>and <R4> protect field elements, including Field Displays. <Q&A1263> Asks if pneumatic reservior nuts are legal for use as a projectile in an Endgame expansion system. The response indicates latitude for inspectors and Head Referees to determine the safety of an expansion system:

The type of Endgame mechanism you describe is potentially legal. Teams, Inspectors, and Head Referees must apply judgment to determine whether any specific mechanism is unsafe as described in rule <R4>, and in particular <R4d>

  1. Is potential damage to a Field Display by an expansion system (such as use of pneumatic reservior nuts as projectiles) a valid reason to fail a team at inspection based on R4a?
S2   S1   R4  
Answered by committee
  1. If a Field Display is in use, is it considered outside the field perimeter, such that a team automatically receives a Disqualification if it contacts the field display during Endgame or due to an early expansion?

Yes. The Field Display is considered to be outside the Field Perimeter, and contact with the Field Display by a Robot during during Endgame or due to an early expansion is a violation of <S2> that will result in an automatic Disqualification.

  1. Is potential damage to a Field Display by an expansion system (such as use of pneumatic reservior nuts as projectiles) a valid reason to fail a team at inspection based on R4a?

It is possible to use pneumatic reservoir nuts as part of a safe and legal expansion mechanism. Inspectors and Head Referees must consider the entire mechanism when determining whether a specific expansion mechanism should be allowed. In the right (or wrong) circumstances, nearly any Robot on the Field could cause damage to a Field Display in nearly any VRC season. This possibility is not, by itself, a valid reason to fail a Robot at inspection.