[Adam Shapiro]

To the best of my knowledge most of the competitions I've attended over the years have let the drivers move when the clock hit zero. The one time I remember any differently is the Phoenix regional last year, however I do believe that the issue was resolved either Friday or Saturday and the ruling was changed.

As you said, while it shouldn't happen it isn't uncommon for the sound to be delayed, or to not go off at all. This can be quite an unfortunate circumstance if the refs are going by the sound clip rather than the clocks. The one thing that I always wondered about is why the rule even exists in the first place. The OI signals are ignored by the RC in autonomous mode, so a player interfering with the controls shouldn't have an effect. I suppose it is to prevent accidental control if a robot does not properly enter autonomous mode. Any thoughts?