The official VEX IQ Robotics Competition Question & Answer system has closed for this season.
Official Q&A: VEX IQ Robotics Competition 2024-2025: Rapid Relay
2458: Stuck ball in the loading station.
At a recent competition, the ball being introduced by the loader into the loading station became stuck within the loading station and didn't exit from the randomizer and floor. The loader is not allowed to put their hands in the volume of the loading station when loading, so the loader sat their looking at the referee who had no clue what to do either. After a few seconds the referee told the loader to pull it out and reload. Can this be clarified for what ( and who) is allowed in this situation?
Two side notes: First, the referee is standing behind the goal in order to watch for balls getting stuck in the goal, that expecting a referee to try to run around to the loading station to get it would take a good 5+ seconds.
The second comment which i think is called out already, is if a ball becomes stuck in a loading station, it is likely due to a build error, which it was in this case and fixed after the match. Should this type of build error qualify for a match replay if discovered after the match but before teams scores are agreed on?
If a Ball becomes stuck in the Loading Station, the Drive Team Members should notify the Head Referee. The Head Referee should then allow the Loader to remove the stuck Ball from the Loading Station, at which point the Ball can be legally Loaded back into the field.
As always, Match replays are at the discretion of the Event Partner and Head Referee. A Ball becoming stuck in an improperly built Loading Station for a period of time could reasonably be considered a Score Affecting field fault, which could warrant a match replay under clause A of rule <T7>.