We believe our response to Q&A 1529 addresses your question.
There are very many rules this year that are settled only by the judgement of a head referee at an event. Should rule SG2 require that the catapult arm be stationary when the Triball is being loaded to avoid having different referees rule differently on what is considered unsafe under S1?
To expand further on this subject, it is important for both Teams and Head Referees to remember that Teams are responsible for the actions of their Robots at all times. <S1> typically refers to actions that pose an active danger to (or that have injured/damaged) other Students, volunteers, or field elements. The Game Manual does not typically legislate specific conditions for what is considered "unsafe", due to the inherent risks involved in designing and building Robots that have limitless possibilities for spinning wheels, pinch hazards, and sharp edges.
If a Team chooses to compete with a design or strategy that could risk being considered unsafe, they should be prepared to demonstrate any safety precautions or considerations that have been taken, such as during inspection or a practice match. We would encourage Head Referees and Event Partners to take these conversations seriously, and provide Teams with some degree of "benefit of the doubt" when it comes to their own Robots.
With that being said, there is a limit to that consideration, and Teams should also be prepared for the possibility that a Head Referee will not agree that their precautions are sufficient. In this context, we would direct Teams to the following notes from the Game Manual.
Rule <G3>:
When in doubt, if there is no rule prohibiting an action, it is generally legal. However, if you have to ask whether a given action would violate <S1>, <G1>, or <T1>, then that’s probably a good indication that it is outside the spirit of the competition.
Rule <SG6>:
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.
Rule <R3>:
All Inspection Rules are to be enforced within the discretion of the Head Referee within a given event. Robot legality at one event does not automatically imply legality at future events. Robots which rely on “edge-case” interpretations of subjective rules, such as whether a decoration is “non-functional” or not, should expect additional scrutiny during inspection.
