The Q&A is closed for the 2021-2022 season. Any rule changes or clarifications pertaining to the 2022 VEX Robotics World Championship will be included in the April 5 Game Manual Update. Teams attending VEX Worlds who wish to pre-submit questions for the driver's meeting should have received a contact form via email; if not, please contact your REC Foundation Team Engagement Manager for more information.
سؤال و: VRC 2021-2022: Tipping Point
854: Q&A 842 Follow up
In Q&A 842, a ruling was made that I find extremely concerning, and I believe it has the potential to ruin the game this year. The question asked was the following:
If a red robot pushes a blue mobile goal under one end of the red platform, but neither red robot makes any attempt to get on the red platform, is the mere presence of an object enough to warrant a violation of SG3 or must the red alliance make an attempt to get on the Platform?
To which the GDC's answer was the following:
Per SG3-c, as well as Q&A's 813 and 816, yes, the presence of an object is considered a violation of SG3.
This answer seems to contradict multiple rules in the game manual, including G14, which states:
G14 You can’t force an opponent into a penalty. Intentional strategies that cause an opponent to violate a rule are not permitted, and will not result in an infraction on the opposing Alliance. Minor violations of this rule that do not affect the Match will result in a warning. Match Affecting offenses will result in a Disqualification. Teams that receive multiple warnings may also receive a Disqualification at the Head Referee’s discretion.
I believe this ruling also contradicts G3, which states:
G3 Use common sense. When reading and applying the various rules in this document, please remember that common sense always applies in the VEX Robotics Competition.
Combining these rules together, I do not see how it is possible for the Blue alliance to receive any kind of penalty for the actions of a Red robot, in this case being that a Red robot placed a Blue goal under the Red platform, thus preventing themselves from climbing.
Can the GDC confirm whether the ruling in Q&A 842 was an error? If it was not in error, can the GDC explain their reasoning?
Thank you.
This response comes directly from Grant Cox, Chairman of the GDC.
Because we know that these types of gray areas in the Game Manual can often spawn endless "what-if" questions, the answer given in Q&A 842 was an attempt at a "blanket answer" that could provide guidance for as many scenarios (and future Q&A posts) regarding "Scoring Objects under Platforms" as possible.
The core confusion, unfortunately, came from a misinterpretation on our part of the question actually being asked in Q&A 842. After reviewing closer, it was actually asking two different questions:
- Does the alliance color matter when interpreting SG3, and
- Does the mere presence of an object warrant a violation of SG3
Because the second question was the one that was explicitly asked in the post, it was the one that we focused on in the response. "Yes, the presence of an object can possibly warrant a violation, so the Head Referee needs to do some more analysis of the Match context to find out why it got there".
To answer the first question directly, yes, Alliance color matters, as it does in pretty much every rule. SG3-c states:
<SG3> Platforms are “safe” during the endgame. During the last thirty (30) seconds, Robots may not contact the opposing Alliance’s Platform.
c. Per <SG10>, using a Scoring Object to contact the opposing Alliance’s Platform during the last thirty (30) seconds would be considered a violation of this rule.
The intent of SG3 is to prohibit Teams from contacting their opponent's Platforms.
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A Robot contacting their own Platform during the last 30 seconds is not a violation of SG3.
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A Robot using a Scoring Object to contact their own Platform is not a violation of SG3.
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A Robot using a Scoring Object to contact their opponent's Platform is a violation of SG3.
We have edited the response to Q&A 842 to include this clarification, and apologize to anyone who was misled by the ambiguous response to the original question.
Edit 2021-12-07: The v2.2 Game Manual update included a revision to rule <SG3> to help address this and other clarifications. We recommend reviewing the full text of <SG3>, including the “red box” clarifications, for more information.
The answer given above still applies to this question.