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

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471: Definition of 'being controlled' in RSC5


David CRAIG
2-Jan-2020

I act as a referee in Scotland. My question is about RSC5. This question will become important if teams exploit strategic replacement of game objects.

<RSC5> A Team may handle their Robot as many times as desired during a Programming Skills Match.

b. Any Game Objects 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.

Question: what is the definition of 'being controlled' and 'while being handled' in this context? If a game object is clasped and lifted off the floor, it is clearly 'being controlled', but what about:

*touching a game object, on the floor

*being entangled in a game object

*having a robot arm pushed through a cube, but without touching it

There is no explicit requirement for the robot to be at rest before being handled, so there is a need to define when all these apply. If the act of lifting the robot to reset it leaves the game object behind on the floor, was the robot controlling the game object while being handled?; and, specifically, is the team allowed to stratgically replace the game object?

Answered by Game Design Committee

Question: what is the definition of 'being controlled' and 'while being handled' in this context?

We cannot provide a strict definition for "controlled" that would apply to all possible Robot interactions. That said, the following thought experiment can be used as a general guideline: if, upon lifting the Robot for a reset, the Game Object is left behind on the Floor, then it would not have qualified as "controlled".