Penalties

[Administrator]

Reply to this post to ask a question about Game Penalties.

[Sheldon]

Per rule <SG8> if a robot were to "Intentionally lift, grasp, or hold any of the Rolling Goals except your own during End Game; it would result in a "5 points [penalty] per offense". How is the "per offense; defined? For instance if a robot were to grab and hold a Rolling Goal (to bring over to the side of the field with their baton dispensers), would the entire time that the robot is holding the goal only be considered one penalty?

When a penalty occurs Referees will warn the offending team and assess a penalty. If the team continues to violate the rule, additional penalities will be assessed every 5 seconds. Referees also have the option to disable or disqualify a team that they believe repeatedly violates the letter and intent of the rules. In your example the rules clearly indicate that goals are not to be grasped except during the end game. A team employing the strategy you described would be disabled and/or disqualified.

[Raj]

The GDC has seen many posts asking for clarification of the term "possession" with respect to the batons. Based on all of these questions, we have come up with an update and clarification to the term possession.

Possess / Possessing a Baton - Controlling the position and movement of a BATON. A BATON shall be considered in POSSESSION if, as the ROBOT moves or changes orientation (e.g. backs up or spins in place), the BATON remains in approximately the same position relative to the robot.

Batons that are being "driven over" or being "pushed" are not considered in "possession" as you would be able to move or change orientation of the robot and the batons would stay where they are.

These updates will be made to the next version of the Game Manual which will be available later this week. All previously asked questions concerning baton possession are considered to be answered by this post. Any new Q&A should be referenced with respect to this (and other) new definitions. Thank you.

[Raj]

The GDC has seen many posts asking for clarification of the term "possession" with respect to the rolling goals. Based on all of these questions, we have come up with an update and clarification to the term possession.

Possess / Possessing a Rolling Goal - Controlling the position and movement of a ROLLING GOAL. A ROLLING GOAL shall be considered in POSSESSION if, as the ROBOT moves or changes orientation (e.g. backs up or spins in place), the ROLLING GOAL remains in approximately the same position relative to the robot.

These updates will be made to the next version of the Game Manual which will be available later this week. All previously asked questions concerning rolling goal possession are considered to be answered by this post. Any new Q&A should be referenced with respect to this (and other) new definitions. Thank you.

[Professor Proton]

Rule SG3 [Robots may only contact and use the Baton Dispensers of their corresponding Alliance] carries a 5-point penalty.

It's not stated, that if a robot violates this rule by removing an opponent's Baton (e.g.: the Doubler) in autonomous, what becomes of that Baton.

e.g.:
Does the offending robot lose the use of that Baton (e.g. they are prevented from scoring it to overcome the point penalty), or can they score it.
Does the alliance that owns that Baton also lose the use of it (since they didn't dispense it?), or does it become available since it WAS dispensed.

Thanks
The Original G-FORCE

A1: The 5-point penalty per Baton is the only consequence for dispensing a Regular or Magnet Baton from the Opposing Alliance’s Dispenser. The offending robot does NOT lose the use of the Regular or Magnet Baton.

A2: Dispensing the Opposing Alliance’s Doubler Baton will result in a team disqualification from the match.

[Professor Proton]

There does not appear to be any penalty for interfering with the opponent's attempt to balance during autonomous mode (only end game). Was this intentional, or an oversight?

A: You are correct, there isn't a penalty for interfering with an opposing alliance robot's attempt to balance on a Bridge. This is the intent of the Game Design Committee, not an oversight.

[Wil Wheaton]

Just to be clear, shouldn't your last sentence above be "Batons that are being "driven over" or being "pushed" are not considered in "possession" as you would be able to move or change orientation of the robot and the batons would NOT stay where they are (relative to the robot)?"

The wording as it stands, as well as your alternative wording express the same concept. In the original wording, the batons stay where they are (on the mat) while the robot moves away; therefore not possessed.

[Wil Wheaton]

While there are penalties for tipping an opponent's rolling goal, apparently there is no penalty for simply moving it by pushing it (with no lift, grab, or hold). In addition, while there is a penalty for interfering with an end-game attempt to balance, there does not appear to be a penalty for setting up a situation that makes balancing difficult before the end game begins. Therefore, would it be an allowable and penalty-free strategy to move the opponent's rolling goal under their own bridge just a few seconds before end game begins, making it quite difficult for them to then balance (they would have to extract the rolling goal first which could be quite hard). Assuming this placement of the goal does not directly result in any field damage, that is.

The rolling goals are designed the be too tall to fit under the end of a bridge. Getting one under would require lifting the the bridge off its pivot and would fall under <G8> as destruction of and/or damage to a scoring area.

[Raj]

If you are touching one baton and that one is touching other batons are you considered in possession of the other batons. for example if you are pushing one that is in contact with the robot but the others are in contact with the one being pushed by the robot.

If you are pushing the batons on the mat, you're not in possession. Please check the definition of baton possession for further definition.

[Raj]

The new definition of possession for batons has been very clarifying. However, I still have one more question on the topic. Is it considered possession to have batons rolling across (unsecured and in the process of falling of) our robot? Ie, if we have a ramp on our robot that has 5+ batons on it, but that are in the process of rolling off our robot, would we be considered to be in possession of too many batons?

A: If your ramp has 5+ batons on it, you should incur a penalty regardless of whether they are rolling off or not.