[moderated]: Ask the Champ Referees!

[Aidan F. Browne]

Wow! Time flies! One week from now we will have new FRC Champions!

In order to help facilitate the Driver’s Meeting on Thursday at the Championship, the Head Refs are wondering: what is still on your minds? Teams asking questions now will help us build the answers into our Driver’s Meeting presentation.

Here is how this will work… PLEASE obey these requests…

1) What you may post here are questions EXACTLY as you would ask them if the microphone was handed to you on Thursday – i.e. short and sweet. (The intent here is to keep the questions focused, so we can actually answer them.)

2) No questions will be answered here on Chief Delphi – all answers will be incorporated into the presentation at the Driver’s Meeting. (The intent here is to let us know what is on your minds ahead of time so as to help shorten the Q&A at the Driver’s Meeting -- that way we can think it out, talk it out, and have a consolidated answer for you Thursday.)

3) This is a special forum. You can post to it, but those posts will be moderated (meaning they will not be seen publicly until approved). (There will not be any censorship of legitimate questions – the intent is to filter out nonsense, attempted answers by others, or posts that don’t follow theses rules.)

4) We will take our last look at these questions at 9pm on Monday, at which time the forum will be closed. (We need sleep sometime this week!)

Go Teams!!! Travel Safely!!! We’ll see you on Thursday!

Yours truly,

The Head Ref Team

[Jay Trzaskos]

When are you allowed to step forward after auto? Can we go at zero, or do we have to wait for the buzzer?

[triggerhappy336]

Is the penalty for being in the other teams end zone in end game based on a time (every 5 seconds), an interval (at 15,10, 5 and 0 seconds left), or a combination (one penalty for going in at 13 and another for being in at 10 seconds)?

[Jeff Rodriguez]

If my robot is in the opposing alliances home zone during the end game, but I have hit the E-stop button, will I still get penealized?

[Rick]

What is the earliest time a human player pick up a tube in a match?

[jgannon]

If a robot is on top of a tube, which is on top of another robot, is the upper robot supported by a game piece (and thus is not lifted), or is the tube considered an extension of one of the robots (and thus the lift counts)?

[Billfred]

Which division champions play each other in the Einstein semi-finals? (Or, alternatively, which division receives which label of Division A, B, C, and D as defined in Section 9.5.3?)

[thefro526]

If a robot deploys a ramp outside of their homezone is it considered a wedge?

[Priyadarshy]

Originally Posted by thefro526

If a robot deploys a ramp outside of their homezone is it considered a wedge?

Is it considered a wedge even if it is not being used to wedge, is it just the wedge shape that will be illegal?

Also how is it determined that a robot has exceeded the 6' x 6' rule during play, supposing that the robot has changed its configuration after the violation?

[Rich Ross]

If a robot has a ring on its flag that does not correspond to its alliance (Example: Blue alliance throws a ringer on Red Alliance robot #1), can that robot proceed to score for the duration of the match?

[Chris Marra]

If a robot has ANY ring on its flag, can that robot proceed to score for the duration of the match?

Also, if ringers on the bottom of the rack are supported by ringers on the floor below them, how will their score be determined?

Are yellow flags removed when teams proceed from their division to the Einstein field?

[Kevin Kolodziej]

When is a ring considered scored and what is the criteria for descoring it? Lets say redbot is scoring a ringer. Redbot releases its grip, but due to bluebots defense, becomes tangled with the ringer. In its struggle to get free, redbot's gripper maintains contact with the ringer but the ringer at one point becomes fully supported by the spider leg. Bluebot gives a final push and redbot is pushed away from the rack, still tangled with their ringer. In the process of being pushed, redbot removes the ringer from the rack. Is this action a descore, and if so, who is penalized?

I realize this situation happens extremely quickly and referees may not always be in the proper position to see everything, but I'm just looking for how this is intended to be called.

Thanks!

[Dan Petrovic]

If a team were to use their arm (or some other part of their robot) to lift a legally scored Spoiler enough such that the weight of the Spoiler is no longer being fully supported by the spider leg, would it be considered removed?

[Grant Cox]

If a bot is pushed into the opposing alliance's home zone during the endgame (pushed by someone from the opposing alliance) but truly attempts to get out, will they still be penalized the 10 points? How generous are you going to be on determining if the bot was trying to get out?

[ALIBI]

Please define "supported" when it comes to a robot in contact with or supported by a game piece when considering bonus points. I.E. If the wheels/treads are completely supported by an alliance partners ramp and an arm rest upon a game piece after power is cut, will bonus points be given?
What if the arm were to stay above twelve inches if the game piece were removed? Could one argue that the robot was supported by the ramp with incidental contact of the arm on a game piece? In other words, the game piece was not the only thing keeping the robot above twelve inches.