TLDR: I’m going through how specific rules were written over the years and highlighting the changes and progression. The first of these will be game piece control.
The goal of this post (or posts) is to show how some rules have evolved over time. This is partly in response to some of the discussion about Momentary Control that compared the rules from 2022-2024. The rules were obviously different between these years for reasons related to both the intent of the GDC and the other details of the game/field. It is hard (and discouraged) to speculate about intent, and every game will have different requirements to prevent game-breaking actions, but it can’t hurt to spread more knowledge of how the GDC has attempted to meet the challenges of successfully creating and constraining a game over the years.
I will be limiting my post to only the publicly available, finalized rulebooks, and excluding any references to anecdotal experiences of how things were enforced, any private or publicly available Q/A, and (most) Team Updates. My personal experience is mostly 2012-2014 as a student and 2022-2024 as an adult. Anecdotes of rule enforcement and mid-season changes through Team Updates can still add to the discussion and would be welcomed.
My current list of rule topics to eventually discuss includes:
- Game piece control
- Robot to Robot Interaction:
- Pinning
- Robot damage
- Tipping
- Blockading
- Protected zones
- RP/Rankings
- Robot Size
- Height/Extension Limits
- Frame Perimeter
- Other robot build rules, but I am not as knowledgeable about these.
I’m still figuring out how to best format my information, and I would be open to any additional topics the community would be interested in.
Game Piece Control
The first rule I will be covering is game piece control. The two main points covered in rules are: defining CONTROL (the term most recently used) and limiting when/where a robot may CONTROL game pieces.
2007: Rack ‘N’ Roll
This is the first game to have limits on how many game pieces a robot could “POSSESS”.
The rule from that year:
From the Definitions section:
Notable from this year and as a starting point:
- POSSESSION is a defined term in the glossary and is defined by support or controlled movement
- There is a mention of “herding” game pieces and some details about game pieces that are on the floor but could still be considered POSSESSED
- The rule is long and has many specific situations addressed that could cause unintended POSSESSION
2008: Overdrive
The rules:
Definitions:
Notable from these rules:
- Multiple rules describing allowed and disallowed actions instead of a single huge paragraph
- Herding is a defined term
- Bulldozing is allowed and described but not defined
- There is only a rule against POSSESSING opponent’s balls, but not against HERDING
2009: Lunacy
No relevant control rules.
2010: Breakaway
This game had some rules related to how the robot was allowed to POSSESS the game piece that were specific to the Soccer theme that I won’t include because they don’t really apply moving forward (but are still worth looking at on their own if you are interested).
The 2010 rule:
From the Definitions section:
Notable from this rule:
- Herding is no longer a defined term
- The mention of “herded or POSSESSED” is unclear if “herded” is meant to be considered control or not (at least from my interpretation)
- The rule includes text reminding teams to keep this rule in mind when designing and operating their robot but does not impose design rules
- Referees are told to strictly enforce this rule, but without much additional detail
2011: Logomotion
Rule:
And from the Glossary:
Notable from this rule:
- POSSESSION definition is identical
- HERDING is a defined term again and a form of control
2012: Rebound Rumble
Rule:
No Glossary definition of any terms
Notable:
- Changed from POSSESSION (all caps) to “control” (no caps)
- “Foul per extra” language is first used, potentially related to the limit being more than one
- Control is focused on “gaining advantage” by the movement or positioning
- First mention of a defensive intent when controlling: “trapping”
- Added terms of “bulldozing” and “deflecting” that are not control
2013: Ultimate Ascent
Rule:
No Glossary definition of any terms
Notable:
- No new information but slightly better formatting (A, B, C)
2014: Aerial Assist
EDIT: Adding 2014 Rule:
Notable:
- “Launching” was added as a form of control, defined by motion of a component relative to the robot
2015: Recycle Rush
Excluding 2015 because there is no relevant rule.
2016: Stronghold
Rule:
No Glossary definitions
Notable:
- “FOUL per extra” remains even though the limit is back to one
- EDIT: “Launching” stays from 2014, but is defined slightly differently
2017: Steamworks
Rule:
No Glossary definitions
Notable:
- Addition of escalation to TECH FOUL and YELLOW CARD if “strategic”, but no definition of strategic
- “Foul per extra” is gone again
2018: Power Up
Rule:
No Glossary Definitions
Notable:
- “Foul per extra” is back
- Change from “strategic” to “repeated” for escalation (but no TECH FOUL), “repeated” is not officially defined
- “Launching” added
- “Plowing” and “Nudging” added, likely due to the cubes being staged in a tight stack
2019: Destination: Deep Space Presented by The Boeing Company
Rule:
No Glossary definitions, but “repeated” is defined in “Rule Violations”:
Notable:
- “Greater-than-momentary” exception is added, but “momentary” is not officially defined
- “Strategic” is described by gaining an advantage of scoring both game pieces held, and allows for a stuck game piece to only be a foul each time without escalation
- A, B, C, etc. definitions of types of control are gone. These appear to be replaced by Examples.
2020: Infinite Recharge
Rule:
Glossary definition of Control for the first time:
“Momentary” and “Repeated” are defined, but only in the “Rule Violations” section:
Notable:
- A, B, C definitions are back
- “Strategic” is gone, replaced with “Egregious” which is defined by a higher number (10) or an example of repeated and long movement of game pieces
- “Greater-than-momentary” remains and “momentary” is officially defined
2021: Infinite Recharge
Ignoring this one.
2022: Rapid React
Rule:
Glossary definitions:
Notable:
- All terms are officially defined in the glossary (other than “frequent” which is in the rule)
- Added CONTINUOUS and defined it
- “Repeated” is removed from the rule, replaced by “frequent”
- Unclear if frequent-but-less-than-momentary control is considered Egregious
2023: Charged Up
Rule:
Glossary definitions:
Notable:
- First time that the rule depends on robot location
- Removal of “less-than-momentary” exception (this was done in Team Update 1)
- Simplification to only A, B
- Exception for moving a piece to access an area of the field
- Egregious is the same (with adjusted amounts)
2024: Crescendo
Rules (AUTO and TELEOP):
Glossary definitions:
Notable:
- Different rules and penalties for AUTO and TELEOP
- AUTO rule makes a distinction for staged (not yet moved) game pieces
- TELEOP rule:
- Adds an instant violation for leaving a game piece gathering area, but allows any amount in that protected area
- “Less-than-momentary” exception is back and is now location based
- “Excessive” (replaces “egregious”) violations exclude frequent, less-than-momentary control of two game pieces, but is unclear on three
Conclusion
Throughout the history of FIRST, the GDC has identified that the game would be “dramatically different” (taken from 2010 rule text) if there were no limits on control, and that it is important that Referees are able to enforce these limits. My goal is not to make any recommendations or judgements with this post, only to highlight the history. FIRST has tried many different approaches and continues to show interest in improvement. The current iteration of the rule, with an exception for “less-than-momentary” control, began in 2019, with clarifications about what this phrase means added over time. The 2024 rule included new concepts entirely, and every game will have its own rule-writing challenges, so we will likely keep seeing changes to control rules.
Thank you for reading my history of the FRC game piece control rules. Please let me know if there is a specific rules topic that would be good as my next focus.
those years are so funny since my first year of 
