[meaubry]

Having observed the ref's this past week end while sitting in the judge's chairs along side the field (great vantage point in some respects, lousy in others) my observations are as follows;
Things that don’t change the rules
1) corner refs cannot watch everything that is going on. If they are watching on field action, they cannot watch sideline line activity very well. In one match, a human player ran after the ball that bounced out of the field of play almost to the stands and back - Un-noticed by the ref - I asked about the rule after the match and the ref told me they didn't see it happen. I suggest getting additional ref's to monitor sideline infractions.

2) Robot extending into opposing robot - obviously in place to limit damage to other robots internal organs. If you designed a pick up device that extends (which most have to do to pick up the ball from the floor) - you knowingly chose to take a risk in doing so. I strongly advice, making sure the arm is retracted in your robot space while driving around in reckless abandon. These robots are really fast, interaction is going to occur - on purpose! Be smart and don't put yourself in a position to get a penalty - unless you don't care about getting them. And don't cry that you cannot retract the device - that should have been thought about, so go fix it.

3) add a couple posts extending upward in front of the refs to protect them from errant shot balls – the refs would not need to panic, flinch, or worry about getting hit - and it is a simple field change with some T couplings and pipe.

4) human player interaction penalities - LEARN the rules and stop doing stuff that might earn you an infraction - Like it or not, that can be fixed by training and practice - no excuses.

5) Mark the auto balls (as suggested - great idea)

Things that would change the rules
6) put a podium in each corner of the field, and always have a ball on each one of them at all times

7) make it the responsibility of the team human player to place the next ball into the next cycle - and if they mess up and have more than one ball out there at a time (shut off the signal to all of that alliance - game over for them) – only do this in conjunction with marking the auto balls and #6, plus you could eliminate podium lighting delay issues.

Have fun! Remember, it’s only week 1 – things will get better!
Mike