FIRST will often often ask you to use accepted definitions, sometimes explicitly in the Q&A. Remember the "active mechanism" fiasco last year? If you apply a more generally accepted definition of autonomous (more than just the context of our "autonomous mode") and then:
- Consider <G19> After DEPLOYMENT, MINIBOTS must remain completely autonomous.
- Consider the definition: DEPLOYMENT – the act of positioning a MINIBOT on a TOWER. DEPLOYMENT starts when the MINIBOT breaks the vertical projection of the TOWER BASE circumference during the END GAME.
In a broader sense of the word, something that is pushed is not autonomous. Therefore, if it is pushed after it crosses the platform, it is not acting autonomously during DEPLOYMENT.
I imagine someone will get the GDC to clarify after enough prodding, just like they eventually did for "active mechanism" last year.