Possession of more than one Boulder
 

If you are holding and boulder, and you accidentally drive over another boulder (a ridiculously common occurrence) does it count as possession of more than one Boulder?

Probably a question for the Q and A, but I'd like to hear some discussion about it here. If it is in fact possession of more than one Boulder that will hugely effect a ton of teams. "Brush Guards" will become almost mandatory. For anybody who has attended a week zero event, you know how common/easy it is to drive over a boulder.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

My interpretation would be that it's under "Bulldozing" in G38's Blue Box, as you're not intentionally driving over the boulder, but have contacted it as a result of it being in your path to your next goal eg. scoring.

It's probably not considered "Trapping", because you're most likely not making an effort to shield or guard them.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

Brief contact while driving over a boulder is not control of the boulder.

Now, if you sit on the boulder to keep the other alliance from getting to it ...

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

I agree with Edxu, rule G38's blue box also states: Moving or positioning a BOULDER to gain advantage is considered “control.”

As long as it isn't a way to gain an advantage, I would consider accidentally driving over the boulder a viable action and wouldn't interfere with the rules.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

At the championship in 2012, we lost a qualifying match on a penalty because a referee flagged us for possession of 4 balls. The 4th ball was "possessed" when we landed on it while going over an obstacle to score our other three balls.

Be prepared for garbage calls from referees regardless of what the "spirit of the rule" is. FIRST utilizes volunteers, and not all volunteers (and their interpretation/understanding of the rules) are created equal.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

This wouldn't be a garbage call. The interpretation of this rule is truly a gray area.

Not all volunteers are created equally, but every volunteer I know does their best. They're giving up their time to make these events possible.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

Interesting similarity:

2012 rules, blue box, G22:
2016 rules, blue box, G38:

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

Even the best of designed robots would have gotten a penalty based on what I saw happen. There's not a whole lot you can do to avoid landing on a ball when it's hidden from the drivers by a metal channel and is right behind an obstacle.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

I agree completely. That's why I think it's important we have a discussion about it now as opposed to week .5 when these calls start happening.

Re: Possession of more than one Boulder
 

This makes having a camera(s) ever so important. We have been practicing on a full size field and balls in hidden spots got trapped under our robot a few times.
We have two cameras and it definitely helps. This in addition to accurately making high goal shots.😊