End Game Lights/Sound Effect Confusion?

[Brandon Holley]

Hey Everyone-

I noticed this at the Suffield scrimmage, but thought it had more to do with people just wanting to test their minibots than following the rules; does anyone else see a lot of confusion occurring regarding the start of the end game?

The "scrambling roadrunner noise" (for lack of a better description) has typically been when the "end game" starts in years past. Last year it was when teams could begin hanging, its been a pretty typical sound that I'm sure any veteran is familiar with. This year it occurs 5 seconds before teams can deploy their minibots.

While I presume most teams knowledgeable in the rules will still understand that they cannot deploy their minibot until the tower base color changes and the clock strikes 10 seconds, I've seen many teams already deploying their minibots at that "scrambling" sound. I believe I understand the intention of telling teams to "Ready, Set, GO!" for the minibot race, but it seems like some teams need to really brush up on their understanding of the rules (as is the case every year).

Just an observation, anyone else experience similar findings?

-Brando