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Official Q&A: VEX V5 Robotics Competition 2026-2027: Override

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3153: Clarification on Classification of Stacked Game Elements and Removal of Elements

32K
22-May-2026

In the rulebook, <SG10> states that "Placed Scoring Objects cannot be removed from neutral Goals.". <SC2> clearly identifies an example of a position a pin may take on a stack which is not Placed, shown in Figure SC2-2 (pin placed horizontally on a cup without either half of the pin being entirely contained within the concave portion of the cup).

We wanted to ask about the legality of the following:

(a) Removing a Pin that is not Placed, such as a Pin positioned similarly to the one shown in Figure SC2-2.

(b) Removing a Cup which is similarly balanced horizontally on top of other game elements without being placed.

(c) Removing a Cup which is balanced on top of another Cup without a pin in between (or, similarly, a Pin balanced on a Pin with no Cups in between).

(d) Removing a Placed cup which is not affecting the score of the game (ex. transparent part facing downwards, with no pins above, thereby not adding or subtracting points from the game.

(e) If it would be a major violation to accidentally knock over protected scoring elements in an effort to reopen an alliance or neutral goal for scoring by removing a game element that was positioned on the goal but not Scored/Placed.

(f) Rule <SG9> states that "Robots may not directly or indirectly interact with the opposing Alliance-colored Goals", and clarifies that this includes adding and removing scoring objects. Would stacking a horizontal game element as seen in Figure SC2-1, or any unplaced game elements as stated above count as interaction with these goals? By definition, this is not Placed, and it is not an action of descoring, but it forces the opposing alliance to take time to reopen their own alliance's goal for scoring.

(g) If it would be a violation of <SG6> for one of these game elements to fall onto a bot already possessing 1 pin and 1 cup in the action of removing it from the goal.

Thank you so much!

SC2   SG9   SG10  
Answered by committee
2-Jul-2026

Note: Rules <SG2>, <SG9>, and <SG10> have since been updated in later versions of the game manual. We have revised and reformatted your question to reflect that update and to make it easier to address your individual questions.

To answer questions (a), (b), and (c), <SG10> only applies to Placed Scoring Objects, so removing a Pin or Cup that is not Placed from on top of a neutral Goal would not be a Violation of <SG10>.

(d) Removing a Placed Cup from a neutral Goal would be a Violation of <SG10>, regardless of whether or not the Placed Cup affects the score of the Match.

(e) It’s legal to remove Placed Scoring Objects from your own Alliance-colored Goals, whether accidentally or intentionally. However, a Robot action that results in the removal of Placed Scoring Objects from a neutral Goal would be a Violation of <SG10>. This will escalate to a Major Violation if it’s considered to be Match Affecting, if it’s deemed by the Head Referee to be intentional and/or egregious, or at the Head Referee's discretion after committing repeat Minor Violations. (See Violation notes in Appendix C for more details.)

(f) Making contact with Scoring Objects stacked on an opposing Alliance-colored Goal would be considered interacting with that Goal, regardless of whether those Scoring Objects are Placed or not, which would result in an <SG9> Violation.

(g) If the Scoring Object falls into the Possession of a Robot that is already in Possession of 1 Pin and 1 Cup, the Robot would technically be in Violation of <SG6> for exceeding the Possession limit and must immediately stop all actions other than attempting to remove the excess Scoring Objects. The Robot would not be able to continue participating in gameplay until the excess Objects are removed from its Possession.