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

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G17 Position of game elements after handling robot


3204C
11-Aug-2019

When a robot claw is entangled in the cube, and the driver puts the robot back in a legal starting position, where should they put the cube? Just next to the starting position? or where the cube was before they picked up the robot as long as it is non-scored position? Should the referee adjust the position of the cube if he/she is not happy with the placement by the driving team?

<G17> Rule G17: Handling the Robot mid-match is allowed under certain circumstances. If a Robot goes completely outside the playing Field, gets stuck, tips over, or otherwise requires assistance, the Team’s Drivers may retrieve & reset the Robot. To do so, they must: a. Signal the Head Referee by placing their VEX IQ Controller on the ground. b. Move the Robot to any legal Starting Position. c. Any Game Object being controlled by the Robot while being handled must be removed from the Robot and gently placed in a non-Scored position by the Team. d. Any Game Objects in the Starting Position may be moved out of the Starting Position and gently placed into a non-Scored position by the Team.

Answered by Game Design Committee

Thank you for quoting the game manual.

To your first question,

where should they put the cube?

The answer can be found in G17c, quoted below for reference:

G17c: Any Game Object being controlled by the Robot while being handled must be removed from the Robot and gently placed in a non-Scored position by the Team

This means any non-Scored position, so both examples you provided would be appropriate options. However, remember be mindful of the rest of G17 beyond what you quoted in your post:

This rule is intended so Teams can fix damaged Robots or help get their Robots “out of trouble.” It is not intended for Teams to use as part of a strategy to gain an advantage during a Match, including via moving Game Objects per parts 3 and 4 above. If a Head Referee sees Teams strategically exploiting this rule, they may be Disqualified from said Match.

So, this addresses the second part of your question regarding what the Referee should do:

Should the referee adjust the position of the cube if he/she is not happy with the placement by the driving team?

No, the referee should not adjust the Cube themselves. The only reason that the referee would be "not happy" with the placement is if the Team was using this rule to move a Cube into a position that was either strategically advantageous, such as just barely outside of a Corner Goal, or Scored. Both scenarios could result in a possible Disqualification if it is not rectified immediately (i.e. if it was an accident).

Referees are there to help the teams, so if a referee sees that a team is about to violate this rule, then the referee may caution the team to ensure that no rules are violated.

This answer was edited in February 2020 to include the following note:

This question did not specify whether it was being asked with regard to a Teamwork Challenge or Robot Skills Match. Therefore, the answer above assumes that the question was referring to a Teamwork Challenge Match, since most questions normally do. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.