LIFT VS. LAUNCH

[dtengineering]

I had a nice explanation of why this would all work, based on the definition of "crossing" requiring all parts of the robot to cross the line, and the assumption that you were not penalized until you "crossed" a finish or quadrant line in the wrong direction, but re-reading the rules, specifically G22 kind of makes mincemeat of that idea. You get penalized just for breaking the plane of the line once you have "crossed".

Pity. The "bucket brigade" scenario would have been fun to watch and would have rewarded technical proficiency and teamwork. Not that it is 100% impossible, as the "scoring robot" could pass the ball completely over the finish line to the receiving robot... or for the receiving robot to grip the part of the ball that has passed over the finish line while the ball is on the overpass... or for a robot to be built in such a way that it can pick up the ball on the counter-clockwise side of the overpass without first having to completely pass over the finish line (robot turns around, extends a bar from it's "front", backs across the line leaving the bar over the finish line, reaches up and grabs the ball, then retracts the bar and moves away from the overpass in a counter-clockwise direction) but the combination of G22 and having the finish line directly underneath the "counter clockwise" side of the overpass makes it even more difficult than it would have originally been.

Jason