Below are the rule changes for the 2014 IRI. These will be documented and included in the team pack and will be reviewed at the drivers meeting.
No inspection, Honor system on legality. +5 pounds allowed. Gross / obvious violations of robot rules will be identified by the referees and must be corrected before the robot continues.
There is no zone requirement for possession.
A 4th ball may be used for autonomous. All other autonomous rules are unchanged.
A trussed ball which is untouched by another robot and enters the low goal will be considered scored.
The basic foul of G21 is removed. Continuous / repeated violations will still be a technical foul. Contact outside the safety zone will still be enforced.
G14 will be modified to allow for “no call”.
G12 will be modified so that an immediately rectified possession of the opposing alliance ball (from a truss shot, human play or field crew action) will not be penalized.
Elimination Alliances are 4 teams. The Alliance captain determines which teams play each match with no requirement on who plays.
One member from the non-playing team may be part of the drive team group and will be considered a COACH.
The dropping of the zone possession REALLY changes the game dynamic.
For the better.
I’m also glad they fixed some logistical issues, most importantly the truss into low goal fix.
I would bet large amounts of money that the right combination of three robots can score 400 in a normal match with these rules. Looking forward to a fantastic IRI!
Number 2 really changes the game. Imagine 3 roller bots with one being double sided. You could probably do a train manuever with each robot bumper to bumper. May not even be worth trussing anymore. Excited to see how the competition plays out.
Most of these rules I understand and appreciate, for example, I love the addition of more balls in autonomous, it’s perfect to showcase the outstanding teams at IRI, and the more relaxed rules will be a nice change of pace. And who, seeing rule change #4, could resist the mental image of that one team that scores twenty point cycles in about 5-10 seconds? (I know it probably won’t happen, but it would be so cool!) However, I can’t think of a good reason for the lack of zone requirements. I felt that it forced teams to specialize in a specific part of the game, which fostered teamwork in general. Or I could just be being staid. Can anyone tell me why this rule is being implemented?
The removal of the zone rule makes the “park your robot on the sides of the field and cycle balls really fast” strategy feasible. The inbounder robot parks in the corner and shoots it to the human player, who immediately puts it into the second robot (against the side of field in third zone), which rolls it into the third robot, which rolls/shoots it into a goal. Rinse and repeat. All robots would be in a corner, so you can’t push them out of the way.
Better yet, please come to IRI this year!!! I am not sure if they will have corn dogs but I will personally buy you a nice, big, juicy ear of Indiana corn!
As much as it helps the game flow- I really dislike the removal of the zone requirement for possessions. It removes the benefit of teams that built their robots to be able to truss from the white zone.
