Rule Discussion: Possession

[Sean Schuff]

Originally Posted by boiler

Simple - if one of the alliance partners has a "claw" manipulator, it simply grabs the ringer and lifts it off its partner.
EDIT: I would love to see a robot on an opposing alliance do that, especially if it "accidentally" dropped the tube in the first place. Very GP. Kind of like the robot picking up the other one in the Hangin-A-Round animation.

That's a very big "if". Consider a team that has a grabber mounted to an elevator that doesn't have the ability to reach into their partners robot. Or an alliance made up of three ramp bots or a combination of ramps and low scorers.

The rule has some serious implications for some teams (we dealt with the issue of a tube over our flag in one match and spent about 40 seconds dislodging it) and can impact the results of the match. Perhaps this is one of those instances where referees can be allowed to interpret intention. If a team's robot has a tube inadvertently thrown over their flag (either by their own alliance or their opponents), they can continue to score with other tubes but can't ever score with the tube on their flag. I know it isn't the most ideal solution but it would be a workable one. From a refereeing standpoint you don't want to have to judge intention but this may be one of those situations where it would be pretty clear.

Sean