[Joe Johnson]

There have been a few legal eagles asking for the definition of what it means to be "tortugaed*"

It is a little like art, in that we'll know it when we see it, but a good working definition is that a robot is tortugaed when it stuck or disabled while attempting to traverse or helping another robot traverse a defense. Stuck should be broadly interpreted.

Some examples:

if you flip over crossing the Chapel of Frost and you're technically not in the defense zone anymore but everyone knows that it was the defense that done you in. Of course, we're going to give you a tortuga for that.

If the Drawbridge thwaps your battery from its cradle and the field officials don't disable you until they see you dragging that 17AmpHours Anchor around the courtyard, again, you've been tortugaed my friend.

If your alliance partner gets stuck on the rock wall and you go over to try to give them a bump to save them only to have their flailing Sally Port arm reach into your robot and, horrors, turn off your main breaker, why, that's a tortuga for two right there!!!

If you are holding open the Sally Port and an alliance robot goes insane, pushes you against that very door after which their motors start smoking and they hit their e-stop and you spend the rest of the match unsuccessfully trying to get out from the pin they've put you in. Again, two tortugas will be awarded.

I hope this clears things up, even as it maddens the legalist in the FRC world.

Cheers,
Dr. Joe J.

*Yes, it's a verb now.