[jjkoletar]

Originally Posted by LeelandS

I was actually wondering about that. Naturally I don't want to start a thing, and I wasn't close enough to get a really good look, but it looked to me like our robot backed up the requisite amount. I find this evidenced by the fact that the ref seemed to halt her count and keep her hand up instead of finishing her count.

It looks to me that when we returned, 120 was clearly able to move, as they moved forward and then preceeded to turn and move out of the courtyard. Without interference from our robot, as we went to move to another robot.

I've never been trained as a referee, is there some kind of "intent to pin" that referees are supposed to look for? It looks even though we did return to pin 120, we never completed her process as they were clearly able to begin moving. Any thoughts from someone with more referee knowledge than I?

I'm extremely happy with this season, and our run at world's. I'm more so asking because if our driver was not entirely at fault, I don't want him to think he is. And I want to be able to tell him what to do better next year.

Text of the rule:

Originally Posted by G22

ROBOTS may not pin an opponent’s ROBOT for more than five (5) seconds. A ROBOT will be considered pinned until the ROBOTS have separated by at least six (6) feet. The pinning ROBOT(s) must then wait for at least three (3) seconds before attempting to pin the same ROBOT again. Pinning is transitory through other objects. If the pinned ROBOT chases the pinning ROBOT upon retreat, the pinning ROBOT will not be penalized, and the pin will be considered complete.

• Blue bot drives in front of red bot. Though it's perpendicular, they're against a wall, so the referee starts her pin count. She counts off 4 seconds.
• As she's about to give her fifth "chop", the blue bot gets six feet of separation for a brief period. This is why you see her halt her count.
• At this point, now that you're six feet away, the red bot is no longer considered pinned. The thing is, you must wait three seconds before pinning that same robot again. Since you only had six feet of separation for about a second, and then go and kind of reenter the six feet around the robot you were pinning, she considers the robot to be pinned again, meaning you have now tried to pin that same robot again with 3 seconds of the pin being over, meaning you get a foul.

I know it's not a very strong call and that it decided literally the winners of FIRST Stronghold, but the thing is, if referees second-guess themselves because it's a really close match, then their calls could get less fair because they're worried that it could be a deciding factor. The only advice I can give is to, when you're ending a pin, literally go to the other side of the courtyard, or start T-Boning a second robot immediately after you backed away.