<SG6> Match Load Triballs may be safely introduced during the Match under certain conditions. For the purpose of this rule, “introduce” refers to the moment when a Match Load Triball is no longer in contact with a human and has crossed the plane of the field perimeter. During this action, a Drive Team Member’s hand may temporarily break the plane of the field perimeter. This momentary interaction is an exception to rule <G9>. Excessive, unnecessary, or unsafe actions while introducing a Match Load may be considered a Violation of <S1> and/or <G1> at the Head Referee’s discretion.
Match Load Triballs may be introduced by a Drive Team Member in one of two ways:
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By placing the Match Load gently onto a Match Load Zone. This may be done at any time during the Driver Controlled Period, provided that no other rules are Violated. a. “Throwing,” “rolling,” or otherwise imparting enough energy onto a Triball such that it bounces, out of the Match Load Zone is not permitted. b. Note that the Match Load Zone refers to the foam tile itself; it is not a three-dimensional, volume. There is no rules-bound limit for how many Triballs may be in the Match Load Zone at, any given time, provided that new Match Loads are placed directly onto the foam tile without violating any other rules.
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By placing the Match Load gently onto a Robot from the Drive Team Member’s Alliance. a. The Robot must be contacting the Match Load Zone or the Match Load Bar. b. Momentarily / accidentally losing contact with the Match Load Zone or Match Load Bar is permissible, provided that the Robot is still “breaking the plane” of the inside edge of the Match Load Bar. See Figure 28. c. Rules <S1> and <S3> still apply to this interaction; there should be no reason for a Robot to extend outside of the field perimeter during this action.
The intent of part 2b is to provide some “benefit of the doubt” to Teams for incidental Violations that may occur during rapid introduction of Match Loads. For the purposes of this rule, “momentary” refers to a duration of 2 seconds or less. Part 2a should still be the primary driver of Robot design; part 2b is not intended to permit a design which relies solely on “breaking the plane” with no intent of the Robot ever contacting the Match Load Bar. In other words, it is still the Team’s responsibility to ensure that a Head Referee can clearly determine their legality “at a glance” during a Match.
Note: Match Load Triballs may only be introduced once the Driver Controlled Period has begun. During the Autonomous Period, and during the time between the Autonomous and Driver Controlled Periods, Match Load Triballs may not cross the plane of the field perimeter.
**QUESTION - Egg beater intake on a questionable robot pulls in Triballs gently put / placed, but "INTO" is the key word from the side of the robot, similar to as if you are feeding a horse ... Maybe this is G3 nit picky semantic of INTO vs ONTO in SG6.2 I would view the design feature as illegal, as the Triball doesn't specifically get placed ONTO anything - tray / flywheel / catapult / punch / etc. (PLEASE CONFIRM). **