It’s been brought up by many people in the ‘launching boxes’ forum, but really, what happens if a box or two gets launched into the audience (for one reason or another)? Does the team get DQ’d? Will they be penalized in some fashion? I mean, come on! You have to wonder if the people at FIRST thought about this in advance. They have all these things in the rules about launching boxes (ie: you can only use the surgical tubing, etc etc etc.), but they say nothing about what if a box is “mis-flung”? Yeah, accidents happen, but glacier tubs flying through the air with a LOT of force behind them REALLY have the potential for harm to anyone within 30-40 or so feet. This could mean the endangerment of the refs and judges, the players, and onlookers. Quite frankly the idea scares me. The idea behind letting us fling boxes might’ve been good, but the potential for harm which it has probably wasn’t completely thought through by those at FIRST. Maybe someone should send an e-mail to FIRST asking about that? I think it would be a pertinent question.
If the judges believe your robot is intentionally launching the boxes to the audience, not only will you get DQ’d from a match, you will also be asked to stop lauching boxes to the audience in future matches. If you refuse to listen, then you will probably be asked to remove the mechanism from the robot, or you won’t be allowed to play in the matches.
If the judges believe the launching of boxes to the audience is an accident, then you probably won’t get DQ’d. However, if it repeat again, you will probably be asked to disable the mechanism, maybe even take it off the robot. If the accident keep on happening, and you refuse to listen to their order to disable the mechanism, then you probably won’t be allowed to play on the field again.
Bottom line. They will ask you to take off the mechanism if it is a threat to the audience’s safety. Failure to play according to the rules will result in warning and DQ’s.
