<SG6>
Possession is limited to two Rings and one Mobile Goal. Robots may not have Possession of more than two (2) Rings at once. Robots may not have Possession of more than (1) Mobile Goal at once. Robots in Violation of this rule must immediately stop all actions except for attempting to remove the excess Scoring Objects. If they are unable to remove the excess Scoring Objects, then they must return to a legal starting position (as described by <SG1>). They will not be eligible to receive points for Climbing. Any offensive or defensive interactions with Mobile Goals, Stakes, and Corners will be included in Match Affecting calculations. Rings Scored on a Stake are not included in a Robot’s Possession count. Plowing multiple Mobile Goals is permitted. However, Plowing an additional Mobile Goal while also Possessing one is considered a Violation of this rule due to the extremely high likelihood of accidental/implied Possession. Teams which employ Plowing strategies are encouraged to clearly demonstrate that none of the Mobile Goals are being Possessed, e.g., by using a flat face of the Robot with no active mechanisms. If your Robot is carrying a Mobile Goal, you can’t manipulate other Mobile Goals until you put down the one you’re carrying. Period.
Violation Notes:
Any egregious or clearly intentional Violation will be considered a Major Violation. Examples of “clearly intentional” Violations include, but are not limited to: Possessing two or more Mobile Goals in a single Corner. Continuing to play other portions of the game (e.g., defensive maneuvers, Climbing) without returning to a starting position for the majority of the Match. “Accidentally” Possessing an egregious amount of opponent Rings. Possessing six Rings, and Scoring them onto one Stake with a single action. “Removing excess Scoring Objects” directly into Placed/Scored states. For the purposes of Match Affecting calculations that don’t fall within the previous note (e.g., in a tied Match), each Ring Scored during a Possession violation should be considered worth a value of 2 points. These values are not added or removed from the actual score. As with all Match Affecting calculations, only the winner’s points should be considered. If these points were enough to change the offending Alliance’s score from a loss to either a win or a tie, it is Match Affecting. If they would have won the Match even without these points, it’s not Match Affecting. For example, a Robot is in Possession of three Rings and Scores one; this should be calculated as 2 points when considering whether it was Match Affecting (once the Robot is down to two Rings, they’re no longer in Violation of rule <SG6>). In a Robot Skills Match, Scoring a Ring or Placing a Mobile Goal into a Corner while in Violation of Possession limits will be considered a Score Affecting Violation and will result in a score of 0 for that Match. Significant Q&As: 2011 - Any Ring(s) removed from a Stake can count toward Possession 2013 - Guarding a Mobile Goal isn’t the same as Possessing (or Plowing) it 2026 - Possession is not transitive through other Robots 2182 - Clarifications on Possession of Rings and the inside of concave angles of a Robot 2304 - Minor, incidental contact with a 2nd Mobile Goal probably isn’t Plowing 2307 - More clarification on Possession of Rings and the inside of concave angles of a Robot 2363 - More guidance on whether a Mobile Goal Violation is Minor or Major 2419 - Intentionally collecting 3 Rings at a time, then discarding one, is a Violation that will result in a DQ if the Team is on the winning Alliance