Official Q&A: VIQC 2019-2020: Squared Away

First, in the future, please post questions inside of the Q&A system directly, rather than linking to a forum post. If the VEX Forum were to change URLs, or the forum post were to be modified, or a school filter were to block community forums but not RobotEvents, that could make this question hard for future users to access.

We have re-hosted the image in the linked post here for reference: https://i.imgur.com/35k6I2D.jpg

The definition of Scored is as follows:

Scored - A Game Object is Scored if it satisfies one of the following conditions, and is not touching a Robot.

1. A Ball is Scored inside of a Cube if it meets the following criteria:

a. The Ball is at least partially within the three-dimensional volume defined by the outer edges of the Cube’s structure.

b. The Ball is not contacting the Floor “outside” of the Cube. The portion of the Floor which is “outside” of the Cube is roughly defined as a vertical projection of the Cube onto the Floor beneath the Cube, regardless of the Cube’s orientation.

Based on the photo provided, all three Balls in the photo appear to satisfy part "a".

Regarding part "b", the key thing to determine is whether or not the Balls are contained within the "vertical projection of the Cube onto the Floor beneath the Cube". The phrase "vertical projection" is intended to mean a truly vertical (i.e. perpendicular to the Floor) projection of the Cube. This is what the second part of that sentence is referring to ("regardless of the Cube's orientation").

One "rule of thumb" interpretation would be to imagine a bright light shining directly down on to the Cube; the shadow created by the Cube on to the Floor would theoretically define this intended "vertical projection". Any contact with the Floor outside of this shadow would be considered "outside of the Cube", within the context of part "b".

Therefore, based on the photo provided, it does appear that all three Balls in the photo are contacting the Floor within this vertical projection, and thus part "b" is satisfied.

Therefore, all three Balls would be considered Scored "inside the Cube", for one (1) point apiece.

Please remember to utilize the "blue box" that is also included in this definition. In "too close to call" scenarios, the benefit of the doubt should almost always be given to the Teams.

Teams may encounter other Ball/Cube states than the examples depicted in the figures below. In these cases, as long as Ball satisfies criteria “a” and does not clearly violate criteria “b”, then the Ball should generally be considered Scored inside of a Cube. Teams will be given the “benefit of the doubt” in these judgment calls, as Head Referees will not be expected or required to define a perfectly rigid imaginary vertical projection or check minute measurements.