Overdrive <G22> poll: yea or nay?

[smurfgirl]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

I think the rule is good but needs some modification. I look at the rules as being imposed constraints to allow team members to plan, design, and play under additional simulated physical constraints that real world problems will present in the future. However, there are great many areas of the field that for one reason or another, the drivers cannot see that they are in violation. How can a driver 30 feet away, looking through a two lexan panels with reflections and a multitude of vertical poles, tell that their bumper which is several inches off the floor and in bad light, has just crossed backwards over the lane marker by 1/4". (The parallax in this situation is tremendous) There is just no way that can occur. Make the rule that the whole (or the majority of) robot must cross backwards over a line to incur the penalty and then I think you have something. Even refs must be hard pressed to see that small a change accurately.

Al basically said it all. The huge number of penalties we see from <G22> are accidents because of the problem he described, or forgetting that 1/2" of your 42" wide ball holding mechanism re-crossed the line when you turned, though the base of the robot did not.