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

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1933: Momentary Elevation while Crossing Barrier


60053Y
5-Feb-2024

*<SG11> During the last 30 seconds, robots may not contact... Opponent Robots who meet the definition of Elevated.

"Elevated: A robot is considered elevated at the end of the match if they meet the following criteria..."*

Thoughts: Elevated is not defined during the match. Therefore SG11 can only protect elevated robots at the end of the match.

I assume this to be an oversight.

Let's assume that Robots can be considered elevated during a match. Then a robot that is crossing the barrier (on their side of the auton neutral lines) to score, and teters on it for a moment, would be considered elevated in that moment. That is a protected state, a state that being contacted in would draw a minor infraction, and said minor infraction should be recorded.

This means that during the last 30 seconds, robots attempting to go over the bar cannot be defended against, because that might result in momentary violations of <SG11>, even though the robots are not attempting to elevate, just to traverse the barrier.

As a referee, this seems challenging to enforce. Should a team interact with an opponent crossing the bar and momentarily meeting the definition of elevated, then one has to consider the effect that had on the match and track the likely number of points impacted by the interaction. Did it result in one triball not being scored or two?

Can you clarify the state of being "elevated" to address both of these concerns? Thanks!

Thanks!

Answered by committee
28-Feb-2024

As you quoted from rule <SG11> (bold added for emphasis):

<SG11> During the last 30 seconds, robots may not contact ... Opponent Robots who meet the definition of Elevated.

Any Robot that meets the conditions of points 1-4 of the definition of Elevated (contacting only required/allowed items, and not contacting disallowed items) gains the protection of rule <SG11> during the final 30 seconds of the Match.

If a Robot is crossing their own Barrier while moving Triballs and not trying to Elevate, the Head Referee is unlikely to consider contact with that Robot as a Match Affecting Violation of <SG11> and that specific contact will likely result in a Minor Violation; however, the final determination must be made by the Head Referee within the larger context of the Match. For the purposes of this rule, Match Affecting calculations should be based on points earned for Elevation, and not for Triballs.