Driver Controlled Period - Answer Thread

[Administrator]

Answers to questions posted pertaining to the Driver Controlled Period.

[Professor Proton]

Section 5.3.1 of the Game Manual Part 1 asks teams to reflect on their Robot's design and the question: “If everybody did this, would the game play be impossible? If the answer to the question is yes, the design component is probably not allowed."


VELOCITY VORTEX is played with Particles that are Scored in goals and recycled back to the Playing Field for continuous game play. The Game Design Committee's intent is for open recycling, where Scored Particles return to random locations on the Playing Field Floor so that both Robots on an Alliance have an equal opportunity to access, Control, or Possess their Alliance's Scored Particles. A closed recycling game strategy that denies a reasonable opportunity for an Alliance Partner Robot to access, Control, or Possess a Scored Particle is not in the spirit of the FIRST Tech Challenge and is not allowed. Game play with closed recycling of Particles would be impossible and unfair to Alliance Partners. Therefore, Robot designs and/or game strategies that deny their Alliance Partner equal access to Scored Particles, is considered to be a violation of rule <GS2>.

[Professor Proton]

Question: Is it legal to intentionally lift the cap ball during the Driver-Controlled Period for transportation purposes? In Game Manual 2, rule <GS15> states that "Robots may not Intentionally perform any End Game scoring achievements prior to the start of the End Game," but also states "Intentional Controlled movement of an Alliance’s own Cap Ball is allowed at all times." So assuming we're not setting up for scoring, would we be allowed to lift the ball above the floor just enough to have complete control over it for transportation around the field?

Thanks!

Answer: Intentionally lifting the Cap Ball any height above the Playing Field Floor is an act of Scoring an achievement that is reserved for the End Game. Intentionally lifting the Cap Ball before the start of the End Game violates rule <GS15>.

[Professor Proton]

We had our first qualifying tournament last weekend, and something came up that we hadn't thought about.

The particles and cap balls tend to frequently end up in the non-ramp corners of the playing field during the TeleOp period. This is especially true of the particles introduced by rolling them down the particle returns after the autonomous period. Those simply roll into that corner unless there a robot parked in the way.

Question: If, for instance, two blue particles are in the corner of the field behind/under a red cap ball that is also in the same corner, is the blue alliance allowed to bump the red cap ball out of the way so they can retrieve the blue scoring elements? Or are those elements considered out-of-play for the blue alliance until the red alliance comes and removes the red cap ball?

Thank you.

Answer: Yes, the Blue Alliance Robot may briefly Control the red Cap Ball for the purpose of gaining access to the Blocked blue Particles.

Tip from the Game Design Committee: Drive Teams should not take advantage of this exception to gain an intentional tactical advantage.

[Professor Proton]

This is a follow-up to question #3 in the Driver Controlled Period thread.

Based on on the sentence in GS15 that states:

Intentional Controlled movement of an Alliance’s own Cap Ball is allowed at all times.

And the answer to post #3 that is focused on whether the Cap Ball is lifted, it is our understanding that we can move the cap ball to our preferred location for end-game scoring before the end game as long as we don't lift the ball off the mat.

Question 1: Is this correct?

Question 2: If so, can we also actually grasp the Cap Ball and move it before end game (again as long as we don't lift it off the mat) to move it to a strategic location?

Thanks.

Answer 1: Yes.

Answer 2: Yes.

[Professor Proton]

Question 1: Since beacons are equal-opportunity scoring elements in the Driver-Controlled period, is a robot permitted to BLOCK a beacon that it currently "Claims", to prevent the opposing alliance from changing its color?

Question 2: Does this ruling depend on the Defending robot's color or the side of the field that the beacon is currently on?

Comment: It's exciting that offense & defense switch colors at the same time the beacon does.

Thanks.

Answer 1: No, rule <G16> comes into play during the Driver-Controlled Period if an opposing Alliance Robot attempts to access the Blocked Beacon.

Answer 2: No.

[Professor Proton]

Question: If two opposing alliance robots are approaching the same unclaimed beacon, with robot #1 pushing robot #2 away to reach it and closing off all access to it in the process, is this considered blocking?

Answer: Robot #1 is not Blocking Robot #2, provided that Robot #1 moves away from the Beacon in a timely manner so that Robot #2 may access the Beacon. Referees will allow a reasonable amount of time for Robot #1 to interact with the Beacon and move away before issuing a Blocking Penalty warning.

[Professor Proton]

Question: During the driver-controlled period, if a red robot is sitting in front of a beacon so that it is blocking only one button, is this still considered blocking access, since a blue robot could simply press the open button to claim it for their alliance?

Answer: The scenario described is not Blocking access. For Blocking access to apply, ALL paths to the Beacon would need to be Blocked. The scenario suggests that a path to a button on the Beacon is available for the Blue Alliance Robot. That the path available is not a preferred or easiest path is not sufficient to deem all paths Blocked.

[Professor Proton]

A blue alliance cap ball is in a corner of the playing field. A red alliance robot continuously oscillates back and forth within approximately a foot in front of the cap ball in the corner to prevent the opposing alliance from gaining possession during the end game.

Question: Since moving back and forth when the opposing alliance tries to move around the alliance robot would not be blocking all access to the cap ball at one time, would this action be considered legal or be considered blocking?

Thanks

Answer: The scenario described in the question is Blocking access to an Alliance specific Game Element and it is not allowed per rule <G16>. The Red Alliance Robot is actively defending a constrained area of the Playing Field; intentionally Blocking access to an area that contains an Alliance specific Scoring Element. The active defense played by the Red Alliance Robot eliminates all paths of travel between the Blue Alliance Robot and the blue Cap Ball.

[Professor Proton]

Scenario: Before the end game during the driver-controlled period a robot's controlled pushing of a cap ball causes the ball to bounce and lose contact with the playing field floor. The robot is not attempting to lift the cap ball.

Question: Does the cap ball losing contact with the floor (i.e. bouncing) because of controlled pushing by a robot violate rule <GS15>?

Answer: No.