<SC4>
A Switch is Cleared once it has been struck by a Ball and is no longer parallel with the front face of the Goal Wall. Robots may not Clear Switches by contacting them directly (i.e., without it being part of the process of scoring a Ball through that Target). Please don’t over-think this rule. While there are known edge cases in which a Switch has been Cleared without scoring a Ball through the Target (or a Ball has been Scored through a Target but the Switch is not Cleared), they are rare. Switches must be Cleared as part of normal gameplay, and by Balls, not Robots or humans. Beyond that, there are no restrictions on what type of Robot action, mechanism, strategy, or technique is used to Score Balls and Clear Switches. If there are ever more Cleared Switches than Goals scored, it may be an indication that there has been a Violation of this rule, or that a scoring or field assembly/reset error has occurred. It may also just mean that a Ball bounced back out of a Target after a Switch was Cleared.
Violation Notes:
All Violations of this rule are inherently Score Affecting, and therefore Major Violations. Violations of this rule should be rare, as Robots should never be designed to contact Switches directly. Significant Q&As 2023 - Referees should not “fix” the state of switches during a match 2033 - If a Ball becomes stuck in a Target or Switch, it should be cleared by a Robot