[sircedric4]

Well, the end game could definitely be a big point changer except in the opposite way that most people are thinking. I've read over the rules several times and I still am seeing the following problem in the words as written. This is the question I am posing the second that Q&A comes online:

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2010 <G46> and <R19>Clarification

Does G46 / R19 apply to robots that are climbing the tower or in their FINALE CONFIGURATION? According to this rule, any ball that rolls under the robot while it is on the tower and above the floor would violate this rule as written and cause a penalty.

R19 states that in normal operation the ball may not penetrate more than 3 inches inside the FRAME PERIMETER. It does not use the NORMAL CONFIGURATION terminology and as tower climbing could be considered normal operation for this game, penalties could be occurred for any ball that happens to roll under a tower climbing robot.

I think the frame perimeter penalty is not meant to apply to tower climbing robots as that seems against the spirit of the competition, but clarification as early as possible will dictate whether we try and climb the tower or not. If our robot is just hanging there for any stray ball to penalize us, we’ll stay on the ground.

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Depending how that question comes out, we'll be ready to roll some balls under the suspended and elevated robots and deduct the points they thought they were getting. :-)