<SG8>

Engage with the Autonomous Line at your own risk. Any Robot who engages with Blocks that begin the Match on the Autonomous Line and/or engages with an open portion of a Goal in proximity to the Autonomous Line should be aware that opponent Robots may also choose to do the same. Per <GG12> and <GG13>, Teams are responsible for the actions of their Robots at all times. During the Autonomous Period, when Robots from opposing Alliances are both engaged with the same Block and/or are engaged with open portions of Goals in proximity to the Autonomous Line:
• If a possible <GG14> Violation occurs (e.g., damage, Entanglement, or tipping over), a judgment call will be made by the Head Referee within the context of <GG14> and <GG15> (just as it would if the interaction had occurred during the Driver Controlled Period).
• Incidental Violations of <SG7> will not be penalized and will not automatically award the Autonomous Bonus to the opponent as described in <GG13>. However, this allowance only applies when opposing Robots are interacting with the same element.
• Intentional, strategic, repeated, or egregious offenses, such as negatively impacting Robots that are not engaging with the Autonomous Line, may still be deemed a Violation of <GG13>, <GG14>, <GG15>, <SG7>, <G1>, and / or <S1> at the Head Referee’s discretion.

These gameplay elements are intended to be utilized by either Alliance during the Autonomous Period. This will inevitably result in Robot-on-Robot interactions, both incidental and intentional. The overarching intent of <SG8> is for the vast majority of these interactions to result in no rule Violations and/or penalties for either Alliance, just as no rules Violations occur in 99% of Driver-controlled interactions.

This rule is applied differently for VEX U. See Rule <VUG6>.

Game Rules Index