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Official Q&A: VRC 2023-2024: Over Under

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1531: [Possession] Triball between Robot Flat Surface and Field Perimeter Wall


Dale Nacianceno
6-Jun-2023

Possession – A Robot / Triball status. A Robot is considered to be in Possession of a Triball if the Robot is carrying, holding, or controlling the movement of a Triball such that if the Robot changes direction, the Triball will move with the Robot. Therefore, pushing/plowing Triballs is not considered Possession; however, using concave portions of a Robot to control the movement of Triballs is considered Possession.

  1. If a Robot suspends a Triball in the air using a tilted flat surface so that it is held between the Robot and the Field Perimeter Wall, would this be considered possession?
  2. If the answer to #1 is yes, would the answer change if the flat surface is vertical? Therefore, the pressure of a Robot driving into the Triball keeps it up. img
Answered by committee
23-Jun-2023

Thank you for including the image with your question. Generally speaking, yes, these actions would be considered "holding" or "controlling the movement of a Triball" as described in the definition of Possession.

However, as always, it is impossible to provide a blanket answer that will encompass all possible hypothetical Robot mechanisms/interactions. This answer is not intended to refer to every instance that a Robot, a Triball, and the field perimeter touch one another. In most cases, incidental contact while driving around the field would fall under the "momentary" reference in SG7.

<SG7> Possession is limited to one (1) Triball. Robots may not have greater-than-momentary Possession of more than one Triball at once. Robots in Violation of this rule must immediately stop all Robot actions except for attempting to remove the excess Triball(s). This rule applies to both intentional and accidental Possession.