Kysymykset ja vastaukset

<RSC4>

In regards to Field Set up, I am not seeing any language regarding where the Red Alliance quadrants should be for the driver station. Specifically with the requirement of the GPS strips, where should the the driver station be in respect to the 0 degree section of the GPS strips?

<RSC4>

During robot skills matches teams often opt to end their skills match early if continuing may damage their robot or there’s a problem with a sensor that would make continuing pointless (literally and figuratively).

At a recent event, a field tech asked the Event Partner to inform teams they could end their match early ONLY if they had informed the scorekeeper they would be recording a Skills Stop Time. The field tech wanted to reduce the number of early-aborted matches logged in the field’s V5 Robot Brain, to make it easier for himself to determine if aborted matches were due to field faults. The Event Partner instructed that teams had to allow the timer (and thus their robots due to the method of field control being used at the event) to continue if they had not discussed a Skills Stop Time in advance. This was frustrating to teams and could have resulted in damage to students’ robots, particularly if autonomous codes went awry. After discussion with a Head Referee, the decision was reversed and teams were again allowed to end their matches early, though a Skills Stop Time was only recorded if they’d discussed it in advance with the Scorekeeper at the field, as described in <RSC4>.

Can teams elect to end a Skills Match early for a reason other than recording a Skills Stop Time or does this scenario fall under <T4> The Event Partner has ultimate authority regarding all non-gameplay decisions during an event?

Question about Skills matches:

1. Can the team choose which colour preloaded pin to use (e.g. red or blue), or does it have to be red?
2. Where is the Driver Station for Skills? Does the driver have to stay on the red side, or can they move around to the blue side as well?
   • If the driver has to stay on the red side can the loader/ second driver move out of the red side to give direction and offer advice to the driver?

During our last VEX IQ competition, we noticed a significant rule violation that led to an unusual ruling. During autonomous a team was rapid loading from Starting Zone 1 instead of Starting Zone 2, which violates Rule <RSC4>. However, when we raised this issue, the judges allowed the team to redo both of their autonomous runs despite Rule <T7> stating that match replays should only be granted under specific conditions.

This raises important questions: Should match replays be granted for rule violations that went unnoticed?

<RSC4>

Q&A 2192 states that "there is no requirement that a Rapid Load ball must be placed entirely within the volume of that Starting Zone, only that the Ball be contacting the Floor inside that Starting Zone"

Does this also apply to the optional second ball in Starting Zone 1 for Drivers Skills? Or does this ONLY apply to Rapid Load?

• Could the 2nd ball for Drivers Skills be placed directly in front of the robot in Starting Zone 2, where it touches not only Starting Zone 1 but also Starting Zone 2 at the same time? To be in compliance with <SG1> it cannot also contact the robot as a second pre-load, correct?

<RSC4>

Once the controller hand off is complete, can the second driver set the controller down and be a loader?

The note under RSC4 says: Note: In both Driving Skills Matches and Autonomous Coding Skills Matches, any Driver who is not currently operating the Robot may also serve as a Loader (i.e., a Team may have two Loaders at any given time).

In other words, in driving skills, if the person who can drive the bot has set the controller down, can they serve as a loader?

<SG5> Q&A 2137 addresses <RSC4> Rapid Loading differences during Skills Matches (Autonomous and Driving) and states that the balls must be removed from the zone they are introduced into (Zone 2) by robot action. Does this apply to Elimination and Qualification matches as well or is it legal to introduce a Ball in one starting zone and have the robot remove it from another starting zone (i.e., introduce the ball into Starting Zone 2 and roll it into Starting Zone 1 where, by robot action, it is removed from Starting Zone 1)?

For rule <SG5> Loading During the Rapid Load Period, it states that loaders "have the option to introduce Balls directly onto the Starting Zone (i.e. without using the Loading Station)." Please clarify that the teams can rapid load into EITHER starting Zone 1 or 2, or just starting Zone 2. Rapid Loading from Starting Zone 1 seems to give a decided advantage in terms of proximity to the Goals so I just wanted to verify WHERE teams can rapid load during the Rapid Load period, from Starting Zone 1, 2, or either. Thank you for your guidance.

For skills challenges (both Driver and Autonomous), during the Rapid Load periods, balls can be loaded in Starting Zone 2. What is considered legal loading of the ball in rapid loading before a robot may retrieve it?

Does the full volume of the ball have to be within the full volume of SZ2? Does the ball just have to be touching somewhere in starting zone 2? Can the Ball be overhanging outside of the starting zone 2 as long as it's touching somewhere in SZ2? Can the ball be placed to the side of SZ2 as long as part of the ball is over the volume of SZ2?

Early videos of skill matches shows team are toeing the line of far forward they can stretch it to save time, so having a clear definition of 'placed' could be helpful.

(this could also pertain to <rsc3> based on response)

<RSC4>

<RSC4> About <RSC 4>; if a 4-player team is available, can two players play driver and two players play loader in a driving skill competition? Please help me, thank you.

<RSC4>RSC4a states, "Starting Zone 2 (i.e., the one closest to the Loading Station) is the only Starting Zone that may be used for Rapid Loading." Does that mean the robot must come in contact with the ball in zone 2 prior to the ball leaving zone 2 or does it mean the ball must touch down in zone 2 but could roll into zone 1 prior to the robot coming in contact with the ball?

<RSC4>

If a drive team in Skills, waits until there is 28 seconds left on the clock, does that mean they only have 28 seconds of Rapid load period?

For the purposes of <RSC4>, is the Mid match driver switch defined as the moment the controller physically changes hands or a specific point in the driver switch period (such as the end)

<RSC4>

In RSC4, bullet 1, it says that all Red Rings in the Match have been Scored on Stakes.

Am I interpreting it correctly to mean that all 24 Red Rings must be scored before Blue Rings can be scored? Suppose only 20 Red Rings are Scored and all other criteria are met, do Blue Rings still get points as Top Rings?

Thank you.

<RSC4>:

Note: In both Driving Skills Matches and Autonomous Coding Skills Matches, any Driver who is not currently operating the Robot may also serve as a Loader (i.e., a Team may have two Loaders at any given time).

What does it mean to be "operating the robot" during an Autonomous Coding Skills match? Assuming the robot is not being actively repositioned, would it be acceptable for all 3 drive team members to serve as Loaders during an Autonomous Coding Skills match?

Vex IQ Full Volume Rules mention twice that "Each Team will get the opportunity to play exactly three (3) Driving Skills Matches and three (3) Autonomous Coding Skills Matches." RSC4

Does this apply to each session of the League in the League that offers Skills?

We have a small team (1970A) of 2 people and run into a problem that there were simply not enough time to do more than 3 attempts at Skills total. There was 1 Skills field, lots of teams. Kids started on a dot at 9:00am, managed to do 3 autonomous runs. As autonomous was deemed to be most crucial part, with driving part considered easy... But after that Team matches started and there was not enough time to complete even 1 Skills driving match in next 2 hours. Kids stood in Skills line for 20+ minutes, got called for a Teams match, had to abandon line.... repeat 4 times. Didn't get to the front of the line once... Skills field closed at 11:30. The end.

So in all honesty team was NOT given opportunity to do 3+3 matches. While doing everything they can to post score and basically staying in Skills line all the time when not engaged in Teams matches. Seems completely unfair and against the rule RSC4. So does that rule applies to each session of the League?

Subsequent Question: If the rule RSC4 doesn't apply to each session in the League... Than that logically means it doesn't apply to Leagues at all? Because on a page B5 of the Game Manual 2.1 it explains that Skill ranking at the Leagues are the best ranking from each session, and can't be combined. So if League doesn't have to provide opportunity for 3+3 Skills matches at each session, and the results can not be combined across different sessions, than in our case it's entirely possible that there will be no opportunity in all sessions - i.e. the entire League Event. When in this particular League agenda it says "Skills Challenge Offered: Yes" <RSC4>

<RSC7>Here are a couple of questions regarding running teams during a skills match. As per the update on November 1, teams are supposed to be disqualified for coming into contact with anything outside of the field during endgame.

1. How do we mark team as disqualified during a skills match? As of December, Tournament Manager does not include an option to disqualify a team during a skills match. The definition of disqualification says that “A Team that receives a Disqualification in a Driving Skills Match or Programming Skills Match receives a score of zero (0) for that Robot Skills Match” Do I simply modify their score to be zero on everything?

2. Also, does the definition of breaking the field perimeter include the top of the field walls, or only the outside? (Would a team be in violation of S2 if a part of their robot is touching the top of the field wall, but not the outside perimeter?)

3. How strict are we supposed to be regarding the expansion rule before endgame (e.g., 18” exactly or 18” +/- 1”)? Many teams may have intake rollers that break 18” during operation. There were also some teams with string that would sway outside of the 18” during driving. (One team also had a piece of metal partially detach and stick outside of 18”). Should we keep a sizing tool at the skills field to show teams what part of their robot would violate the 18” rule during operation?

4. Being able to eyeball the size of a robot on the field is slightly subjective and might cause problems with newer volunteers. What is the best method for teaching them how to spot a violation?

5. Finally, how do we resolve a dispute of a robot going oversize and entering endgame early? Depending on how strict we are supposed to be with the expansion limit, this will be a point of conflict. As per the manual, “The Head Referee has final authority regarding all Robot rules”. Is this only for the designated Head Referee for the event, or does this include everyone that has been certified as a Head Referee by REC?