Hello GDC, I have a question on behalf of a referee regarding a situation that occurred at a recent local qualifying event.
Part 1: Primary Question and Rule Exception During the Autonomous period of a qualifying match, Blue1 crosses the autonomous line in a straight line and pushes Red1 into the Red Alliance Starting Zone. Prior to this action, Red1 had fully left the starting line and was not crossing the plane of the Starting Line.
<SG7> Don’t cross the Autonomous Line. During the Autonomous Period, Robots may not contact foam tiles, Scoring Objects, or Field Elements which are on the opposing Alliance’s side of the Autonomous Line. Note: Scoring Objects, Wall Stakes, and portions of the Ladder that contact or are positioned above the Autonomous Line are not considered to be on either side, and may be utilized by either Alliance during the Autonomous Period. Violation Notes: • All Violations of this rule (Major or Minor) will result in the Autonomous Bonus being awarded to the opposing Alliance. See <SG8b> for a potential exception caused by Autonomous Line interactions. • Intentional, strategic, or egregious Violations, such as intentional contact with an opposing Robot while contacting the foam tiles on the opposing side of the Autonomous Line, will be considered Major Violations.
Per rule SG7, Blue1 was given a Violation and Red alliance was awarded the Autonomous Bonus.
Rule SC8 states: <SC8>
<SC8> An Autonomous Win Point is awarded to any Alliance that ends the Autonomous Period with the following tasks completed, and that has not broken any rules during the Autonomous Period:
- At least three (3) Scored Rings of the Alliance’s color
- A minimum of two (2) Stakes on the Alliance’s side of the Autonomous Line with at least (1) Ring of the Alliance’s color Scored
- Neither Robot contacting / breaking the plane of the Starting Line
- At least one (1) Robot contacting the Ladder
SC8 states that Autonomous Win Point is awarded at the end of the Autonomous Period. Therefore, in the scenario described, the Red alliance was not awarded AWP due to no longer meeting criteria point 3 "Neither Robot contacting/breaking the plane of the Starting Line."
Question 1: For future similar situations, should the referee allow an exception and award AWP to an alliance that was forced into no longer meeting criteria point 3 by their opponent (given that they complete all other required AWP criteria)?
Part 2: Situation Context and Rule Application The match the above situation occurred in was one of the last qualifying matches in the day and the last one for these teams. Blue1 prior to this match had a functional and task completing autonomous program and never crossed the Autonomous Line. Given that AWP also factors into points for qualification rankings, the refereed viewed this violation of SG7 as strategic and egregious. Per the violation note for SG7 that states: "Intentional, strategic, or egregious Violations, such as intentional contact with an opposing Robot while contacting the foam tiles on the opposing side of the Autonomous Line, will be considered Major Violations," the referee gave Blue1 a Major Violation and Disqualification at the end of the completed match.
Question 2: Would this be an correct interpretation of the violation notes for SG7?
Thank you for your time and consideration.