Does this count as entanglement?

[Amar Shah]

At the start of the match, I want to have a rope running from the robot to a yellow tote. The rope would have a loop at the end, and a zip tie would connect through that loop and through the hole at the end of the tote that is also used to secure the lids of the tote. During the match, the zip tie would eventually break so that the tote is no longer attached to the robot.

[ratdude747]

I'm not a RI or a ref, but I'd say one would have issue. If there was a more active means of undoing the rope it would probably be more likely to pass, although using said tote hole could be problematic.

Iirc entanglement is more for non moving elements (field perimeter, drivers station). The rules concerning this would probably be tote damage rules and ability to easily remove game pieces.

Ask Q&A.

[Bryan Herbst]

I am not a ref, but I would consider connecting a rope to the tote via zip tie to be a violation of G16, item H:

G16 The following actions are prohibited with regards to interaction with FIELD elements (items A-D exclude TOTES, RECYCLING
CONTAINERS, and LITTER):
A. grabbing
B. grasping
C. grappling
D. attaching to
E. becoming entangled
F. hanging
G. damaging (exception: unintentional damage to LITTER)
H. tying

[GeeTwo]

Also, be careful to violate this rule from the last paragraph of section 3.1.4:

However, if a DRIVE TEAM elects to leave their Yellow TOTE in the STAGING ZONE, they must leave it as positioned
by the FIELD staff.

[IronicDeadBird]

Id be more worried about leaving debris on the field. Controlled destruction while fun is hard.

[Thad House]

G7-B would make that illegal. Everything must be fully supported by the floor, and if you tied or put some rope attached to the robot on top of a tote that portion would no longer be supported by the floor.

[sviridovt]

This would definitely not be allowed since you are not allowed to touch the yellow totes prior to match start, additionally as stated earlier this would violate G16

[pntbll1313]

This would definitely not be allowed since you are not allowed to touch the yellow totes prior to match start, additionally as stated earlier this would violate G16

That is not true:

DRIVE TEAMS may not move, nor preload TOTES (regardless of color), RECYCLING CONTAINERS, or LITTER onto their ROBOT prior to the start of the MATCH per G13. There are no rules that prohibit a ROBOT from being in contact with TOTES or RECYCLING CONTAINERS at the start of the MATCH, as long as those items were not moved from their STAGING ZONE as described in the paragraph above.


G7-B and G16 are the rules that prevent this

[Amar Shah]

G7-B would make that illegal. Everything must be fully supported by the floor, and if you tied or put some rope attached to the robot on top of a tote that portion would no longer be supported by the floor.

Thanks, this is the most unambiguous way to disqualify my idea.

[ATannahill]

This would definitely not be allowed since you are not allowed to touch the yellow totes prior to match start, additionally as stated earlier this would violate G16
What do you mean we are allowed to touch the yellow tote prior to the match? G13 limits rearranging them, but it says nothing about contact, especially with the robot.

As for the main subject of this thread, I would take issue with it because of G25.

[Amar Shah]

What do you mean we are allowed to touch the yellow tote prior to the match? G13 limits rearranging them, but it says nothing about contact, especially with the robot.

As for the main subject of this thread, I would take issue with it because of G25.

There are ways to prevent the broken zip tie from falling on the ground, but that is moot now.

EDIT: Actually, I have thought of ways to set up the zip tie so that it is looped through but not touching the tote. I guess we will need an official Q&A on this.