Here's the problem with the minibot

[Jared Russell]

There are many issues with the minibot competition this year, and I fear we haven't seen the end of controversy yet. On both ends of the minibot race, there have been documented problems. Even in week 6, there were issues with towers failing to trigger. And we are relying on human eyes to decide whether or not you deployed early by 1/100th of a second. On Einstein, where there are sure to be several ~1 second minibots, an early deploy can mean the difference between 1st and 4th.

In our second to last qualification match of the Philly Regional, a ref decided that we deployed early. It was freeze-frame close - I maintain (as do all of the spectators I spoke to from a number of teams who saw it) that the driver simply timed it perfectly. But the tower was disabled, and the 40 point swing (-30 for us, +10 to opponent) cost us the match and the #1 seed. The referees watching the towers (at least at Regionals) are not head referees, and have had little formal training. Yet they have the power to make a judgement call in 1/100th of a second that can decide an event.

Ultimately, you cannot blame referees for not having perfect vision and timing. But a game whose outcome can be almost completely decided by such calls is fundamentally flawed (and the higher the level of competition, the more likely such an event becomes).

It is what it is, and I know I will not be disappointed once Logomotion is over (though I know LEGO/Tetrix will be).