[jblay]

But the term has an "effect on the outcome of the match" can be interpreted differently as well. If I'm forced to contact the pyramid in some minor way to go under it and the only purpose of this contact is to go under the pyramid, making my route shorter, does this count? Because going under the pyramid does have an effect on the outcome of the match but the physical pyramid is not used to give this benefit.

Our robot is capable of going under the pyramid, but we want to start in the center of the pyramid. To do this, we have an item for barely contacting it, that extends vertically to the pyramid pole. Will we be able to go back and forth under the opponent's pyramid to the feeder station and contact the pyramid with this item every time without penalty?

My interpretation of the rules is that we will be able to do this without penalty, because we aren't getting any advantage out of this contact, it is just happening as we pass by.

From the wording of the rules it doesn't seem like the pyramid will be treated like the lanes from 2011 were, but more like the key was in 2012. Week 1 will show us a lot I bet.