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

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1685: <SG5> Net Entanglement in Auton

Spencer Vaughan (Event Partner)
9-Oct-2023

Hello!

Recently at an event, we had an interaction in the neutral zone which had resulted in a robot driving inside of the net, whilst underneath the net it fired its catapult repeatedly which began hitting the net,, as per <SG5> normally this type of interaction would result in the Disablement of the Entangled robot, or due to the risk of damage to the field, but as this interaction occurred during autonomous, there was no way to disable the robot without aborting early.

If this had happened at the beginning of autonomous, this could lead to serious damage to the field, and under normal conditions this interaction should not have occurred, what should Head Referees do if this situation arises, and what team would be responsible for entanglement with the net?

Cheers

SG5  
Answered by committee
25-Oct-2023

Teams are responsible for the actions of their own Robots at all times, including during the Autonomous Period.

In an extreme case such as the one described in your post, or if the Robot is exhibiting an immediate safety hazard (e.g. leaving the field) Teams may disable their own Robot by holding the power button on their Controller.

It should be noted that this exception is only intended for egregious safety- or damage-related circumstances; it is not acceptable for strategic purposes, such as disabling a Robot before it crosses the Neutral Zone.

As such, it would generally be assumed that Robot is in an unsafe/damage-prone state where it would be expected to stay Disabled for the rest of the Match. However, if the Head Referee wishes to grant the 5-second grace period allowed by <SG5>, the Team may re-start their Robot's program during the pause between the Autonomous and Driver Control Periods. This must be done from the Controller; Teams must still abide by <G9>.

This is a specific (and hopefully rare) exception to rule <G11>, that will be added in the next Game Manual update.