Autonomous Period - Answers

[Billie Jean]

Official Answers to questions about the Autonomous Period can be found here.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Self-propelled Team Marker

Question: If a Team Marker uses stored mechanical power to propel itself from the Lander area into the Depot, would this count as being placed into the depot and receive 15 points?

Answer: No

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Rolling a Team Marker into a Depot.

In the 1.5.2 Autonomous Period section of Game Manual Part 1 states that "The Team Marker may only be delivered by placing it into the Depot. Launching, shooting, throwing, etc. of a Team Marker is not allowed".

Question 1: Is rolling the Team Marker across the field and into a Depot an allowed Scoring method?
Question 2: What does "placing" as mentioned the 1.5.2 Autonomous Period section require?

Answer 1: No
Answer 2: The Team Marker should be deployed without a noticeable horizontal release motion. Small, inconsequential horizontal motion of a deployed Team Marker is allowed.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Delivering a Team Marker

The rule states that The Team Marker may only be delivered by placing it into the Depot. Launching, shooting, throwing, etc. of a Team Marker is not allowed.

Question 1: May a team drop their team marker into their depot using gravity?
Question 2: May a team use gravity to roll their marker into their depot?
Question 3: Must part of the robot be in the depot to place the team marker?

Answer 1: Yes
Answer 2: No
Answer 3: No

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Rolling a Team Marker into the Depot

Earlier, team 1104 asked, " Is rolling the Team Marker across the field and into a Depot an allowed Scoring method?" The response was No.

Question: Does a team marker with rollers on the bottom of it and being pushed across the field by a robot count as "rolling" as long as the team marker is secure on the robot?

Answer: The action described is allowed if the Team Marker is In the Depot when it disengages from the Robot.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Parking in a Crater

Question 1: Are robots allowed to park in either crater in the autonomous period?
Question 2: By parking quickly in a crater, is it possible to occupy another team's anticipated parking spot?

Answer 1: Yes
Answer 2: Yes

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Robot moving the Gold in both of the Sample Fields for their Alliance

Question: May a single robot knock off both of their alliance's gold minerals in autonomous?

Answer: Yes

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Sliding the Team Marker out of the Robot

Question: Is sliding the team marker from the robot allowed, ie, we planned on using a servo to push the team marker off the robot into the depot. This would have been the same way teams used a conveyor belt to place glyphs into the Cryptobox, they were pushed off the end of the robot.

Answer: Yes, provided that the Team Marker is In the Depot when it is released from the Robot.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: <GS2> Autonomous Period Robot Interference - Sample Field

Question: During the autonomous period, if we are attempting to park our robot in the crater closest to the opposing alliance's side of the field and we knock off their silver mineral, how will that be handled? According to GS2 we would not be assessed a penalty because we are in the process of scoring in a crater and are exempt from this rule.

Answer: This action violates rule <GS2> for Interfering with the opposing Alliance's Sample Field. The exemption for Robots that are attempting to Score in a Crater does not apply.

Note from the GDC: Rule <GS2> begins with: "Robots may not Interfere with the opposing Alliance's Scoring attempts or Sample Field during the Autonomous Period." Later in the rule the GDC emphasizes that the intent of this rule is to "allow Robots to Score their Autonomous Points without defensive play by the opposing Alliance." When the GDC wrote the rule, we recognized that without further clarification for the part of the rule that states: "Interfering with the opposing Alliance's Scoring attempts [is not allowed]," some Autonomous Scoring achievements would be unplayable and/or difficult for a Referee to apply rule <GS2> to the correct Robot. For example, Robots on opposing Alliances are likely to interact while attempting to Park In the same Alliance neutral Crater. To avoid rule <GS2> Penalties for this situation, the GDC added the statement: "Robots attempting to Score in a Crater are exempt from this rule." The GDC's intent to allow Robots to Score in a Crater without violating rule <GS2> is explained further in the rule's Orange Box.

A Robot driving through an opposing Alliance's Sample Field and dislodging a Silver Mineral is clearly not currently attempting to Score in a Crater; it is violating the upfront statement in rule <GS2> that Interfering with the opposing Alliance's Sample Field is not allowed. Applying a rule <GS2> violation consequence at the point in time that the Silver Mineral is dislodged is not influenced by the Robot at a later time attempting to Score in a Crater. In this post's scenario, the exemption to rule <GS2> for Robots that are attempting to Score in a Crater does not apply until after the Silver Mineral is moved by the defensive Robot and it is clear to a Referee that the Robot is attempting to Score in a Crater.

The Robot's actions described in the scenario above, clearly violates rule <GS2> because the Robot Interferes with the opposing Alliance's Sample Field (i.e., a defensive action) when the Silver Mineral is moved from its starting location.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Robot and Team Marker In the Depot during deployment

Question: If the robot is in the depot and the team marker is also already in the depot (but still loaded on the robot), is it legal to deploy the team marker by rolling it off of the robot (with a horizontal and vertical component of rolling motion)?

Answer: Yes, this satisfies the intent of the Game Design Committee.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: <GS2> Autonomous Period Robot Interference - Interfering with an opposing Alliance's Sample Field

Game Rules ->Autonomous Period Answers -> Post #9 (https://ftcforum.usfirst.org/forum/t...6513#post66513) indicates that knocking minerals off an opponents sampling field will earn a penalty - regardless of whether a robot is attempting to score in the crater. This seems clear, however, it apparently is not clear enough based on our experience.

A further clarification is needed...

Question: Should a <GS2> penalty be imposed if a robot removes a mineral from their opposing alliances sampling field in autonomous mode, regardless of the intent of their current activity, and regardless of whether or not the gold mineral has been removed from that field?

Answer: Yes

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Sample Field Scoring and rule <GS2> Autonomous Period Robot Interference: Sample Field

Question 1: Does the Autonomous Sample Field achievement get scored at the instant it occurs or at the End of the Autonomous Period?

Question 2: If a robot removes the Gold mineral from a Sample Field but then later that robot or their partner removes a Silver mineral from the same field, do they get points for the achievement?

Question 3: A red alliance robot removes the Gold mineral from their Sample Field. A blue alliance robot moves a Silver mineral which then rolls to the red side and dislodges a Silver mineral from the same red Sample Field. Does the red alliance get autonomous points for the Sample Field achievement that now has both 1 Gold and 1 Silver no longer in their starting positions? Does the blue alliance get a penalty for this?

Question 4: A red alliance robot does NOT attempt to remove the Gold mineral from their Sample Field. A blue alliance robot moves a Silver mineral which then rolls to the red side and dislodges a Silver mineral from the same red Sample Field. Does the blue alliance get a penalty for this?

Answer 1: The Autonomous Period Sample Field achievement Score is finalized based on the locations of the Sample Field Minerals at the end of the Autonomous Period.

Answer 2: No

Answer 3: A Sample Field at the end of the Autonomous Period that has one or two Silver Minerals removed from their respective taped Areas has zero Score value, regardless of how the Silver Minerals are removed from their taped Areas.

If the Blue Alliance Robot moves a Silver Mineral off of its mark in their Alliance's Sample Field and it meanders around, bouncing off other objects (Playing Field Walls, Minerals, Lander Legs, Crater Rims, etc.) before hitting and moving an opposing Alliance Silver Mineral, Referees will likely view this action as being Inadvertent and not Penalized for violating rule <GS2>. If instead, the Silver Mineral follows a direct path to dislodging the opposing Alliance's Silver Mineral, the Referees may or may not view the action as violating rule <GS2>. This decision will be determined by how the Referees regard the action. A <GS2> Penalty will be assessed if the Referee views the action as a planned strategy. No <GS2> Penalty will be assessed if the Referee views the action as Inadvertent.

Answer 4: Rule <GS2> has a provision for Referees to not award a Penalty per rule <G30> if the actions are Inadvertent and Inconsequential. Referees are likely to view the random travel of the Silver Mineral to be Inadvertent and the action is Inconsequential because the Gold Mineral was not removed from the Sample Field by a Red Alliance Robot. If the Referee views the Blue Alliance Robot's actions as not being a planned strategy to interfere with the opposing Alliance's Sample Field, a <GS2> Penalty should not be assessed.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Team Marker Scoring/Claiming examples
Question 1: If a robot drops a marker in the depot and it is knocked out by their alliance partner before the end of autonomous, will it count as scored?
Question 2: If the situation above occurs, and the second robot also successfully scores its team marker, will the depot be considered completely claimed?

Answer 1: Yes
Answer 2: Yes

[Air Jordan]

Subject: Claiming a Depot - Team Marker bouncing Completely Out of the Depot during placement.

Scenario: A robot moves to the depot in autonomous and dumps their marker into the depot. The marker bounces on the depot tile and then immediately bounces out of the depot, coming to rest completely outside the depot.

Question: Does this marker count as "placed" into the depot, or must a team marker come to rest at some point in the depot for the marker to count as "placed" in the depot?

Answer: A Team Marker is counted as Scored the moment that it is stationary in a Depot and it is not in contact with the delivering Robot.

[Air Jordan]

Subject: How will Drive Teams know that a Depot is Completely Claimed?

Question: How do drive teams determine if each depot is fully claimed or not at the end of autonomous?

Knowing whether your depot is claimed or not can affect your decision to defend the depot or do other activities. Knowing whether your opponent's depot is claimed or not can affect your decision to try to descore their minerals or do other activities.

Answer: The Scoring Referee for an Alliance will signal a Completely Claimed Depot for this Alliance by saying the phrase "Red/Blue Depot Completely Claimed." Drive Teams that care about the status of either of the Depots are responsible for listening for the declaration. No guarantees of volume of statement, clarity of phrasing, or ability to repeat. No replays will be granted based on "We didn't hear it" types of claims.