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Originally Posted by Paul Copioli
... but you can see the runners feet. On many robot designs, the feet (or wheels, treads, etc) can't be seen by anybody until the robot is on its back.
I challenge the point that covering can be seen better by the drive team. How does one come to that conclusion? I can see the robot BASE covering from 20 to 30 feet away. A ref will be right there.
During drive practice last night, we parcticed touching with our wheels. While the drive team had no problem touching, I had a heck of a time seeing if they touched. It was much, much, much, much (you get the point) easier to see if the drive base was over.
I wonder if the "wise guy" was from the West coast ...
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Notice that FIRST said this in update 13:
"The referees will consider any item contacting the loading zone triangle, that is clearly visible and within the original 28” x 38” starting footprint, as part of the robot base. It is very important, however, that it be clearly visible to a referee standing 5 or 10 feet away. An encoder wheel or caster that is under the chassis may not be visible, and as a result, may not prevent the team from receiving a penalty."
CLEARLY VISIBLE is mentioned two times in there. When teams put on these curb-feelers, then the feeler needs to be on the perimeter of the drive base, not on the inside. If the ref does not "clearly" see the touch, then they should throw the flag.
I think that this rule is made to make things more cut and dry for the referees.
As for the coach's view vs. the ref's view, I was referring to the occasion when a team is barely passing over the apex of the load zone triangle. Even though the coach is farther away from the robot, he/she has a better angle to see if the robot "broke the plane" compared to the ref. The ref needs to have the better view, not the coach. What this "touching" rule is trying to eliminate is post-match arguements between drive teams and referees.
coach: "We were in! We broke the plane! I saw us break the plane!!!"
ref: "You did not look in from my view."
coach: "We have it on video!!!"
ref: "I can't look at video, you know that, this is not the NFL."
coach: "Well, come over to the driver's station and I can show you that I had a clear view of this... I tell ya - we broke the plane!!!!"
ref: "The decision stands. I am not going to change my mind on this."
coach: "Aaaaaah. You audibly inhale."
...as opposed to...
coach: "We were in! We touched the loading zone!"
ref: "No you weren't in. I saw space between your feeler (or wheel) and the triangle. I was only 3 feet away. I had a much better view of this than you did from 20 feet away."
coach: "OK, if you saw it better, we can handle that. You are a brilliant referee. Can I have an autograph?"
Referees... gotta love 'em.
Andy B.