Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
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Possession / Shoving Triballs


CBU1
1-Aug-2023

<SG7> "Possession is limited to one (1) Triball…"

Possession is defined as follows: “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.”

The red box below <SG7> states that “The intent of this rule is not to punish Robots for pushing Triballs that are in their way; that is, Robots are free to incidentally drive through Triballs on the field while Possessing an Triball.”

  1. Does this mean that purposeful (non-incidental) pushing of multiple Triballs (without using concave portions of your robot) is illegal?

  2. Would the actions of the robots in the following videos be considered illegal? Since the actions are clearly not incidental?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUOUqfwO8dk (first 3 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jX4IwcdqkI (first 3 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHP3to6VMQs (at 58 seconds)

  1. If the answers to 1 and 2 are Yes, does that mean that any non-incidental pushing would be considered Possession? For example, if my robot was holding one Triball, would it be illegal to push another Triball over to the goal with the flat front of my robot?
Answered by committee
5-Oct-2023

We apologize for the delayed response to this question. The October 3rd Game Manual update included revisions to the definitions of Possession and Plowing, as well as rule <SG7>, that should provide answers to questions 1 and 3.

To address the video examples:

Link 1 - Cannot definitively determine from the angle in the video. If the "wings" form a flat or convex face with the front side of the robot, then this would be considered Plowing, and therefore legal.

Link 2 - This would be considered manipulating multiple Triballs using the "inside of a concave angle formed by multiple mechanisms/faces of the Robot", and therefore not legal.

Link 3 - Cannot definitively determine from the angle in the video. If the face of the Robot pushing the Triballs is flat or convex, then this would be considered Plowing, and therefore legal.