Penalty for raising tetra higher than player station?

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by AmyPrib

In Chicago, the rule was "if you break the plane of the player station wall, you will be disabled." Did I miss something recently? Haven't seen that rule.
Unfortunately, we were disabled for this in an elimination match (along with our partners), and seeing it up close, I don't feel there was a safety issue, which I thought was the intent. The entire tetra was not over the wall (it was tilted downward into the field), and the only part that broke the plane (if that, it may not even have cleared the thickness of the wall) was the endcap, about 1/2" of it - 99% of the tetra was below the wall. I'm sorry, but I just don't agree with it. I do agree with possibly disabling if an entire tetra is dangling overhead (after they move away), but I don't agree with barely "breaking the plane" esp in the corner where there is no wall, and no people really in harm's way. In the corner area is a subjective call as to whether or not it broke the plane.
But, it's now in the past....

In many, if not most cases, there is more of a safety hazard in disabling a robot which is dangling a tetra over a player station than to let play continue. A number of robots having "active" tetra grabbers will release tetras if disabled, and most robots, including ours, will "backdrive" and allow the tetra holding arm to fall if disabled.