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

Usage Guidelines All Questions

1719: <SG3> Legality of removing triballs


Daniel Wilson
24-Oct-2023

SG3 states:

&lt;SG3> Keep Triballs in the field. Triballs that leave the field during Match play, whether intentionally or unintentionally, will be returned to the field by being placed in a Match Load Zone nearest the point at which they exited. Referees will return Triballs to the field when it is deemed safe to do so, at their discretion. This action is not considered a “Match Load”, i.e., the stipulations in rule &lt;SG6> do not apply, For example, the Triball cannot be placed directly onto a Robot. Incidental contact with other Triballs that are already in the Match Load Zone may occur, although referees will make a concerted effort not to do so. The Triball may be placed on top of other Triballs that are already in the Match Load Zone if necessary, e,g., if Triballs are already covering the entire Match Load Zone foam tile region. At their discretion, referees may also direct a nearby Drive Team Member or other volunteer to return the Triball to a specific Match Load Zone. However, this should never be done by Drive Team Members proactively without referee acknowledgment. Note: Triballs which come to rest on top of a Goal may be retrieved by a Drive Team Member from the Alliance Station adjacent to the Goal in question. The Triball is then considered a Match Load for the Alliance who retrieved the Triball. This momentary interaction is an exception to rule &lt;G9>.

Absent is the statement "Teams may not intentionally remove Triballs from the field.", which was present in version 1.0 of the game manual. Was the removal of this statement intentional? Is it now legal for Triballs to be intentionally removed from the field?

Answered by committee
2-Nov-2023

As stated in the first sentence of rule <SG3>, "Keep Triballs in the field." Teams may not intentionally remove Triballs from the field. Doing so is, at minimum, a Minor Violation of rule <SG3> that will result in a DQ if repeated multiple times during an event. This rule will be revised in the next game manual update to reflect this.