Quote:
Originally Posted by draconar
I don't know that you can blame them for targeting refs. You have to admit that the striped black-and-white jerseys look an awful lot like a black-and-white striped FRC target to the camera.
Regarding the intentional vs. accidental debate, being careless does factor in. Sure, maybe 1114 (or any other robot) didn't intentionally aim the ball into the stands, but it's the kind of thing that probably deserves a penalty if it happens more than once, regardless of intent. The safety rules aren't exactly the most specific ones in the manual.
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Coming from a Pittsburgh referee, I appreciate this post.
It won't happen, but I would prefer a <G19> interpretation where a "repeat offender" penalty be applied to those robots whose shots repeatedly leave the field even when they are aimed at the goals. Robots with booming, high loft shots that increase chances of leaving the field of play, or ones whose kickers always undesirably "bend it like Beckham" a bit too often could be coerced into modifying their shot strategy/loft/kick force - force teams to reconfigure their long shots if a decent percentage of them leave the field of play.
Safety concerns and <S01> reign here - I would treat every ball shooting into the stands (perhaps across the black curtain) or toward the scorer's table as a single penalty, with a repeat offender receiving a yellow card for the practice. Intent be darned.
Regarding my suggestion that this would be taken more seriously if an expensive piece of equipment were damaged - it's true. Even though a person was hit by the ball, he was not injured or startled into tripping, or startled into dropping his camera. The first time one of these balls knocks a scoring computer off the table or causes someone to trip or drop and break their camera, you'll have wished the out of bounds penalties were more stringently enforced.
I've beaten this topic to death and will sum it up with a few more words - drive teams, take extra care where your shots land, and avoid shooting if there is even the slightest chance your ball will end up in the stands or headed toward the scorer's table area. If under duress, reposition for a safer shot. Don't just let fly and hope the ball ends up in a favorable location. Hold yourselves more accountable for where your "ammunition" ends up when fired.