Problem with Penalties

[Ryan Foley]

Originally Posted by XaulZan11

Perhaps disable the penalized robot for 5 seconds, or give the other alliance 3 seconds at the end of the match for each penalty with the other alliance disabled.

Anyway, I think simply deducting points away at the end of the match for penalties isn't the best solution. I think by giving the other team an advantage so they can earn points (instead of just being given points (by having opponents lose points)) is better.

In a perfect world, where all rule violations are blatantly obvious, this would work well. However, rule violations aren't always blatant. Adding in penalties after a match gives the referees time to discuss what they saw, and compare notes on the match.

Consider this scenario: One ref (Ref A) is responsible for watching the portion of the blue lane beyond the blue overpass, giving him/her a great view of the lane marker. The ref (Ref B) across the field, in the red homestretch, sees a robot cross back over the lane marker, and calls a penalty. Ref A sees the same thing, but notices that the robot never actually crossed all the way over the line to begin with, thus no penalty. With the disabling method you suggest, Ref B would have disabled the robot, even though the robot committed no penalty. The refs get harassed enough as it is, imagine how much worse it could get with this scenario.

The time that referees have to discuss things after a match is key to keeping the officiating accurate and consistent. That is probably why there are only a handful of rule violations that currently result in a robot being disabled (safety, touching a human, or coach touching the controls). The current disabling-violations are pretty blatant, so it's easy for a ref to call.

I do agree with you though, penalties were too common in this game. Part of that responsibility (if not most of it) lies with the teams though. I know of quite a few teams that went penalty free at regionals.