This is a situation that presented itself at the Boilermaker Regional.
A tetra is placed inside a side goal. It is touching the floor within the goal, but is being supported by the plexiglass on the side of the field. The rules state that:
“a TETRA is CONTAINED in a GOAL if some part of the TETRA is within the threedimensional space defined by the edges of the GOAL, and it is not touching the carpet outside the frame of the GOAL, and not touching a ROBOT of the same alliance, and not SUPPORTED by any TETRAS that are
not also CONTAINED in the GOAL.”
So the question is - does a tetra still count if it is being supported by the side plexiglass of the field?
I would want to say no, but by the wording of the rules, it seems to be contained. By the wording there, part of its in the goal and it doesn’t meet any of the disqualifying conditions, therefore it seems that the tetra is indeed contained.
Section 4: The Game has a few pictures of tetras contained and not contained. One happens to be a tetra leaning against the driver station which is counted as contained. I would imagine that the plexi on the side of the field is no different.
I’m going to say yes the tetra is contained and base it on the attached image. If a tetra leaning against the Alliance Station Wall is ok then a tetra leaning against the side Plexiglas should be ok since they are both field elements.
One thing I have noticed about the containment rule is that many robots drive into goal to get back in the home zone. Sometimes it looks like they might be touching a tetra, making it not contained. This can be very important in determining ownership of the home row. It is not easy to see this from the stands, so I would like refs to give a thumbs up, thumbs down signal to whether a questionable tetra is contained, like they did for hanging last year and “on ramp” the previous year. They can even bring back the calibrated piece of paper
Based on the manual, and the pictures included the tetra would be contained.
What would be the difference between the tetra supporting itself on the driver station as opposed to the plexi and the side of the field as in the situation?
The goal is not set up against the plexi glass like it is the diamond plate. Therefore, part of the tetra is hanging out of the goal and onto the side of the field. More of the tetra is hanging out of the goal than is actually in the goal.
My question about whether the tetra was contained or not wasn’t due to it leaning on the side of the field, but rather if it was touching the yellow triangle inside the goal or not. If it’s not touching that yellow triangle, it doesn’t count, right?
The rule of thumb that has been used for years has been, “If you take away the part that is holding it up would it still be in scoring position?” Added to that is the pictured scored tetra and player station contact where if the player station were removed, the tetra would be touching the ground outside the goal. These two are contradictory. Since the obvious picture in the rules state the tetra is in scoring position, then a tetra supported by the field boundary must also be in scoring position. I say count it, err on the side of the teams when in doubt.
