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Official Q&A: VEX IQ Robotics Competition 2025-2026: Mix & Match

Usage Guidelines All Questions

2707: Team Loaders leave their Driver Station to collect Scoring Objects

jstea hong kong (Event Partner)
3-Jul-2025

According to <GG1>, all Drive Team Members must remain in their Driver Station, except when legally interacting with their Robot per <GG10>.

  1. If the Scoring Objects that leave the Field are too far away, for example, a red Pin drops outside of the Field near the blue Driver Station and the red Team Loader can not reach them. Is it allowed for the red Team Loader to leave their Driver Station to collect Scoring Objects outside of the Field?

  2. Referring to Q1, is it allowed for the blue Team Loader to leave their Driver Station to pass red Pins back to the red Team Loader?

  3. What if a red Pin drops outside of the Field near the blue Driver Station and vice versa, while both Loaders are attempting to retrieve the Scoring Object in the opposite Driver Station, an orange Pin drops outside of the Field near the blue Driver Station, such that the red Loader is the Loader closest to the location where the orange Pin left the Field. In this case, should the red Loader retrieve the orange Pin and reintroduce it according to <SG4b>?

  4. Referring to Q3, can the red Loader use the blue Load Zone to load orange Pins and Beams, and vice versa?

  5. If Loaders are not permitted to leave their Driver Stations, who is responsible for collecting the Scoring Objects that leave the Field during a Match? The Head Referee or Scorekeeper Referees?

  6. Referring to Q5, what is the minimum number of Scorekeeper Referees per Field?

[Example Image]

Answered by committee
17-Jul-2025

As you pointed out, per rule <GG1> Drive Team Members must stay in their respective Driver Stations. Drive Team Members are not allowed to leave their Driver Station to retrieve Scoring Objects that have left the Field.

The Head Referee or a Scorekeeper Referee will retrieve any Scoring Objects that leave the Field and hand them to the appropriate Loader when they are able to do so. Blue Pins will be handed to the blue Loader, red Pins will be handed to the red Loader, and orange Pins and Beams will be returned to the Loader closest to where the Scoring Object left the field (rule <SG4> will be revised slightly in the next game manual update to better indicate this). For example, if an orange Pin or Beam leaves the Field closer to the red Driver Station than to the blue Driver Station, it will be retrieved by a Referee and handed to the red Loader in the red Driver Station.

According to <T1> clause F, every Robot Skills Match must be watched by at least one trained Scorekeeper Referee. For Teamwork Matches, there is no required minimum number of Scorekeeper Referees, only a required minimum of one Head Referee per Teamwork Match.