Rule 7.3.2.3

[itsme]

I'm from team 2217 . We are a rookie team.
We have some difficulty understanding the rule concerning the starting conditions:
When the match starts - can a human player put the keeper on the arm or
do we have to program the robot so that it pick up the keeper ?

[Jeffrafa]

Before the match starts, members of the drive team will carry the robot out onto the field and set it in its starting position/location. You will then have the opportunity to load your robot with a keeper if you wish - this should be achievable without robot control, however - as you will not be permitted to tether or use the controls to setup the robot. Acceptable keeper starting positions are outlined pretty thoroughly in Rule <G04>, but basically boil down to that the keeper must be in the home zone and in contact with the robot. Once your robot is setup, all drive team members return to their alliance zone and await the start of the match.

Last year, we were given our starting game balls during staging in order to expedite the shift between matches, as some robots took time to be loaded with ten balls. I would expect that this year with only one starting object per robot you won't get it until you are on the field - much like two years ago when we started with a single tetra.

- Jeff

[feliks_rosenber]

Ok, but then the robot exceeds the robot physical rules.
Is it allowed to exceed the dimensions before the beggining of the match ?

[JohnBoucher]

Yes, with conditions

7.3.2.2 Starting Conditions

<G04>

KEEPER locations - Each ROBOT starts the match in POSSESSION of a KEEPER. The

KEEPER does NOT need to be contained within the ROBOT'S starting volume, however it

must be in contact with the ROBOT and be entirely within the HOME ZONE.

[Steve W]

The robot is not allowed to exceed the starting demenions until after the start of the game. The toroid is not considered part of the robot in starting configuration. The toroid must be in contact with the robot at the start and both the toroid and robot must be completely within the home zone to start the match. Hope that this helps.

[Taylor]

As an example: We cannot start with the toroid on our manipulator, because doing so would make part of our robot (read: aluminum) extend past the 38" boundary. However, as long as the toroid is touching the robot, we are in possession. So, we are going to lay the keeper on the ground in front of (and touching) our bot, and write into the autonomous code for the manipulator arm to pivot down and pick up the keeper before going off to score.

[MrForbes]

We are planning on having our pneumatic system pressurized, with the manipulator in the "closed" position when the robot is off. The game piece will fit in the manipulator (and the manipulator will hopefully fit within the 38" limit), and when autonomous mode starts, the robot will make some interesting maneuver to extend the arm and flip the manipulator/game piece down into scoring position. Should be fun to see if our programming team can make it work....what do they have, 4 days?