Platform plane?

in the rules it states that you have to be above the plane of the platform in order to get the two points in the finale. does being on top of it count as being above the plane because in the animation (i know i shouldn’t trust it) it has a robot resting on the platform and it says “robots can get bonus points by climbing on the platform or hanging on the tower”. so i guess my question is if you are sitting on top of the platform, do you get points?

It sure seems that way. But it could be otherwise. Sounds like a good one for the Q&A: "If a robot is resting on the platform, is that considered to be “above the plane of the platform”? or something. With the necessary words capitalized.
I hope someone asks this, because I was wondering about it too

I don’t understand the question.

Are you asking if “On the top surface of the plane” equals “above the plane”?

If so, let’s think at the atomic level - here’s the atoms of the top surface of the plane, and then there is something (wheel atoms?) resting upon them - that is “above” the top surface of the plane. Right?

Put another way: Can it be beneath the surface? If not, then it has to be above. The surface itself is impermeable, so it can’t be “at” the exact surface of the plane.

I know, but it seems that when you define a plane, and you say something has to be above it, and you know that one thing penetrates into the other (wheels on carpet), it can be a tad ambiguous.

I’ve seen a couple other discussions about this same thing, and in my personal opinion being on top of the platform doesn’t seem like it would be considered elevated.
On the other hand, something else that another poster brought up is that, since getting onto the platform isn’t that small of a task, why would they 1) put it there and 2) not count it as points?

Right now it still seems to be up in the air. I’m just hoping for some clarification sooner rather than later.

Assuming that resting on the platform is “above the plane” and my reading is that … does the “plane” (as all mathematical planes do) extend beyond the platform? And if so, would a part of the robot that hangs below the “plane” (say, besides the platform) would it then no longer be “above the plane”? I could see a team placing a robot on the platform, then lowering something down to allow an alliance member to get on … if the first one is no longer considered elevated (since part now breaks the plane), then the alliance partner they are suspending is not suspended, since they are not on a robot that is elevated.

Sounds like something for Q&A.

Steve

I interpreted this as 2 points for being completely on the platform. If you had a wheel hanging off that dipped below the plane, you would not get the points.
Someone has tried to ask this question through Q&A but I can’t find the official answer. Help. where do we access the answers in the official Q&A?
http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread.php?t=13639

the answers are usually posted a few days after the questions. I think your interpretation will be confirmed by the GDC, but you have to wait a little longer.

Official answers will be posted here:
http://forums.usfirst.org/forumdisplay.php?f=1353

Don’t take any thing else (including other sections of the FIRST forums) as official answers.

The thread you linked to is not an official Q&A question.

Official Q&A questions must be submitted here by a team representative using the username and password your Main and Alternate contact can find in TIMS (although the login info does not appear to be there yet for my team).

Official Q&A answers will appear here. Note that official Q&A responses may take longer than receiving a response here on Chief Delphi. Please be patient and only post your question once.