[AmyPrib]

More:

Question:
Rule <G27> states: "ROBOTs Must Throw the Balls into the Center Goal - Only a ROBOT may throw a ball into the center goal. The kinetic energy of the ball must be supplied by the ROBOT. A HUMAN PLAYER may not bounce a ball off a ROBOT and score it in the center goal. A violation of this rule will result in a 5-point penalty."

If the ball is scored by the human player does the automatic scoring system first score 3 points and then 5 points are taken off for a net of -2 points, or is the ball not counted and a 5 point penalty is assessed for a net of -5 points?

Answer:
In this case, the ball would be scored by the scoring system for 3 points, and then a 5-point penalty will be assessed, for a net -2 points.

Question:
Per G21, it says that "incidental" incursion into the goal is ok, so long as it doesn't go past 3inches. It says "intentional" incursion results in a DQ.

What is the penalty for incidental incursion beyond 3inches, as I don't see it specified? Is it considered a safety violation, or would it be a DQ also? (I am not sure if inspection is supposed to look for designs which can incur beyond 3in to help prevent this.)

Answer:
Robots should be designed and driven to stay completely out of the corner goals. The approximately 3" buffer was instituted so that refs didn't have to split hairs to determine whether or not incursion had occured, and give the benefit of the doubt to the teams. Any incursion that is beyond 3" is likely to interfere with the scoring system, is potentially unsafe, and will result in disqualification

Question:
Please clarify if this reading is correct: Any contact between a robot with appendages extending outside of the starting footprint (Robot A) and a second robot (Robot B) exclusively outside the bumper zone will result in a 5-pt penalty on Robot A, regardless of who initiated the contact or the severity of the contact?

Is there any room for "incidental contact" in the above case? If two robots with appendages contact exclusively outside the bumper zone, will both robots be penalized?

Answer:
The second bullet of <G22> states "incidental contact will not be penalized". If two robots with extensions contact exclusively outside the bumper zone, there would be no penalty. Even though the striking robot is responsible for its extensions, it is not responsible for contact with the struck robots extensions, so the penalty gets nullified. A robot puts appendages outside of the 28 x 38 footprint at its own risk.

(bolded by me)