<RSC5>

Skills Stop Time. If a Team wishes to end their Robot Skills Match early, they may elect to record a Skills Stop Time. This is used as a tiebreaker for Robot Skills Challenge rankings. A Skills Stop Time does not affect a Team’s score for a given Robot Skills Match. Drive Team Members and field staff must agree prior to the Match on the signal that will be used to end the Match early.
• Teams who intend to attempt a Skills Stop Time must “opt-in” by verbally confirming with the Scorekeeper Referee prior to the Robot Skills Match. If no notification is given prior to the start of the Match, then the Team forfeits their option to record a Skills Stop Time for that Match and they will receive a default Skills Stop Time of 0. This conversation should include informing the Scorekeeper Referee which Drive Team Member will signal the stop. The Match may only be ended early by a Drive Team Member for that Match. If a Team runs multiple Robot Skills Matches in a row, they must reconfirm their Skills Stop Time choice with the Scorekeeper Referee prior to each Match. Any questions regarding a Skills Stop Time should be reviewed and settled immediately following the Match. <T1> and <T3> apply to Robot Skills Matches.
• If the event is utilizing a V5 Robot Brain or the TM Mobile app for Robot Skills Challenge field control, a Drive Team Member may elect to start and stop their own Robot Skills Matches. This V5 Robot Brain or other device running the TM Mobile app will be used to start the Robot Skills Matches (i.e., “enable” the Robot), end the Robot Skills Match (i.e., “Disable” the Robot), and display the official Skills Stop Time to be recorded. This V5 Robot Brain must be running the official field control user program. For more information regarding the use of a V5 Robot Brain for Robot Skills Challenge field control, and to download the official field control user program, visit this VEX Knowledge Base article. For more information regarding the use of TM Mobile for field control, see the Tournament Manager documentation.
• At events which do not have a V5 Robot Brain or the TM Mobile App available for Robot Skills Challenge field control, Drive Team Members and field staff must agree prior to the Match on the signal that will be used to end the Match early. A manual timer must be used in conjunction with a VEXnet Competition Switch. The moment when the Match ends early is defined as the moment when the Robot is “Disabled” by the field control system. The time shown on the timer should be rounded up to the nearest second. For example, if the Robot is Disabled and the timer shows 25.2 seconds, then the Skills Stop Time should be recorded as 26. The agreed-upon signal must be both verbal and visual, such as Drive Team Members crossing their arms in an “X” or placing their V5 Controller(s) on the ground. The signal must be given by a Drive Team Member who is standing in the Alliance Station. It is recommended that Drive Team Members also provide verbal notice that they are approaching their Skills Stop Time, such as by counting out “3-2-1-stop.”
• It is at the Event Partner’s discretion which method will be used to record Skills Stop Times at a given event. The chosen method must be communicated prior to the start of Matches (such as during an event meeting), and made equally available to all Teams. If an event intends to use a manual timekeeping method, a Team cannot bring their own V5 Robot Brain just for use during their own Robot Skills Match. If an event intends to utilize a V5 Robot Brain, all Teams must use the same V5 Robot Brain for all Robot Skills Matches on a given Field. If an event is using multiple Fields for Robot Skills Matches, the same method must be used at all Fields, as described in rule <T21>. Multiple V5 Robot Brains may be used as needed (e.g., a “Field 1 Brain” and a “Field 2 Brain”). The default timed “Drive” program accessed from a V5 Controller is intended for practice only, and cannot be used for an official Robot Skills Match.
• If a Team chooses to utilize/record a Skills Stop Time, the 5-second grace period described in rule <SC1> does not apply.

Game Rules Index