Session 2: Key Terms and Field Setup
Match Types
There are three types of matches that can be played in VRC Tournaments.
In a head-to-head match, two alliances (red and blue) each composed of two teams will play a 15-second autonomous period (pre-programmed) followed by a 1-minute 45-second driver controlled period.
There are two types of skills match that teams compete in as well. These are autonomous coding skills matches and driver skills matches.
In an autonomous coding skills match, one team with one robot will have 1-minute to score as many points as they can with pre-programmed commands.
In a driver skills match, one team with one robot will have 1-minute to score as many points as they can using their remote to control the robot.
The rules for skills matches are slightly different than the rules for regular head-to-head matches. These will be discussed in a different session.
Rings
There are 48 rings used in High Stakes.
- 24 red rings and 24 blue rings
- 44 rings start on the field in predetermined positions
- 4 rings (2 red and 2 blue) are used as pre-loads
Stakes
There are 10 stakes where rings can be scored.
- 5 mobile goals which can be used by either alliance
- 2 neutral wall stakes which can be used by either alliance
- 2 alliance wall stakes (1 red and 1 blue) which can only be used by the same color alliance
- 1 high stake on top of the ladder which can be used by either alliance
Ladder
The ladder is a four-sided structure with three sets of horizontal rungs. There are three climbing levels. These are based on the lowest part of the robot at the end of the match.
- Level 1: above the foam tiles, but below the bottom (black) rung
- Level 2: above the bottom rung, but below the middle (gray) rung
- Level 3: above the middle rung
Teams and Alliances
Teams can be made of one or more students who compete together for a season. Team members can have many different roles (designers, builders, programmers, drivers, documenters). Adults cannot fulfill any of these roles.
An alliance is a pre-assigned group of two teams that are paired together for a given match at a tournament. Two teams will form the red alliance and two teams will form the blue alliance for each match. During qualifying matches, these alliances are randomly paired. Before elimination matches begin, teams will choose alliance partners who stay together for the remainder of the tournament.
Drive Team Members
Your team can have as many students as you wish. However, there can only be one, two, or three students from each team who stand in the alliance station during a match. These are called drive team members. These students do not all have to operate a controller. Some drive team members support the driver by keeping track of the time or what the opposing alliance robots are doing. Adults cannot be drive team members or shout instructions to drive team members during a match.
Field Layout
Up to three drive team members from each team can stand in the alliance stations (highlighted in yellow) on the left and right sides of the field. The red alliance station is on the left (from the audience view) and the blue alliance is on the right.
The starting positions of the five mobile goals are highlighted in orange. The four corners (highlighted in green) are locations where mobile goals can be placed. The top-left and top-right are negative corners where the value of any scored rings on a placed goal will be subtracted from that alliance’s points. The bottom-left and bottom-right are positive corners where the value of any scored rings on a placed goal will be doubled. (The impact of corner modifiers is subject to change in any of the major Game Manual updates.)
The corners are defined as the foam tile and the white tape lines that border it. It is not a 3-dimensional space, so in order to be placed, a mobile goal‘s base must touch the tape or inside tile and be upright (no part of the stake or rings on the stake touching the floor or field perimeter).
Legal Starting Positions
At the start of each match, alliance robots must be placed contacting or “breaking the plane” of their alliance starting line (the line of tape highlighted in green) in front of their alliance station. A robot cannot be touching its alliance partner robot or any scoring object (rings or mobile goals) other than one preload ring.
The robots must begin each match with dimensions smaller than 18″ x 18″ x 18″. They can expand once the match has started.
Preload Rings
Prior to the start of a match, each robot will be allowed to use one of their alliance colored rings as a preload. A preload is placed so that it is:
- contacting one robot of the same alliance color
- not contacting the same robot as another preload
- not in a scored location or touching any scoring objects or stakes
If a robot is not present for the match, that preload may be placed so that it is:
- touching the field perimeter wall by their alliance station
- touching the floor
- not touching a corner, mobile goal, or robot
Autonomous Bonus
At the end of the 15-second autonomous period, once all scoring objects, field elements, and robots on the field come to a rest, the alliance with the most points will be awarded 6 points. In the case of a tie, each alliance will receive 3 points.
Climbing points and corner modifiers are not considered for the purpose of determining the autonomous bonus.
Robots cannot cross the autonomous line (the double white tape line running across the middle of the field) during the autonomous period. Doing so will result in the opposing alliance receiving the the 6 point bonus. If both alliances cross the line, no points will be awarded to either alliance. The only exception is when opposing robots are interacting with the same ring, mobile goal, or neutral wall stake. If this causes a robot to cross the autonomous line, they will not be penalized.
Autonomous Win Point
Winning a qualifying round match gives each team in the winning alliance 2 “win points” to improve their overall ranking. (A tie gives each alliance 1 “win point”.) An additional win point can be earned by any alliance that completes four assigned tasks by the end of the autonomous period of a qualifying round match. To earn the autonomous win point (AWP) in High Stakes, an alliance must do the following tasks without breaking any rules:
- score at least three alliance rings
- place alliance rings on at least two stakes on your side of the field
- have both robots move off the starting line
- have at least one robot touching the ladder
Possession
A robot can only possess two rings and one mobile goal at a time. Rings that are scored on a mobile goal are not included in the robot’s possession count (even if they are touching the robot).
A robot is considered to be in possession of a scoring object if:
- that object is fully supported by the robot
- the robot is moving the object with a concave section of the robot
- the robot is holding the object against the tiles or a field element
You can push or plow a scoring object with a flat portion of your robot and it is not considered possession, but if you use a concave portion of your robot to control the movement of scoring objects, it is considered possession.
Plowing multiple mobile goals is permitted, but plowing a mobile goal while also possessing one is a violation of this rule.
Robots that exceed the possession limit must immediately stop all actions except for attempting to remove the excess scoring objects. If unable to remove the excess objects, they must return to a legal starting position, cannot perform any offensive or defensive interactions with mobile goals, stakes, or corners, and will not receive points for climbing.
Egregious violations of this rule (like possessing two or more mobile goals in a single corner) will result in a major violation (disqualification).
Climbing
Alliances can earn points by elevating their robots at the end of the driver control period. A robot is considered to have climbed to a level if it meets the following criteria:
- the robot is touching the ladder
- the robot is not touching any gray foam tiles, the field perimeter, wall stakes, or mobile goals
Robots can be touching rings as long as the other criteria are met.
You cannot remove an opposing robot from the ladder. While there is no rule prohibiting incidental contact between climbing robots, the following situations can be considered to see if a violation has occurred:
- if two robots are not at the same level, the higher robot has the “right of way”
- if a robot is on the ladder rungs facing their alliance station, they are considered in an “offensive” or “more safe” position
- if a robot has a history of falling without interaction or is not firmly attached to the ladder, it will not be the opponent’s fault if it falls
- interactions on the high stake will be treated like two robots engaging with the autonomous line
Best situation: be the first robot up, have a strong build, stay on your side of the ladder, avoid the high stake.
Violations:
A violation is any act which breaks one of the rules in the game manual. Usually, if something is not listed as a violation in the rules, then it is legal.
Minor Violations are any violation which does not result in a disqualification. These are usually accidental, momentary, or non match effecting violations. They usually result in a verbal warning from the head referee during the match which helps the team avoid it escalating into a major violation.
Major Violations are violations which do result in a disqualification. These are usually intentional or egregious rule violations which are clearly stated in the game manual. All match affecting violations are also major violations. Multiple minor violations within a match or tournament may be considered a major violation at the head referee’s discretion. The head referee will explain any major violations to the teams at the end of the match and issue the disqualification.
Match Affecting violations are ones which change who wins and loses a match. Once a match is complete and the scores have been calculated, if the team who committed the violation won the match and most likely would have lost if they had not committed the violations, they will be disqualified and the “losing” alliance will be awarded the 2 win points. In a qualifying round match, the alliance partner of the DQed team will also be awarded the 2 win points since it is not fair for them to be punished for the penalty of a randomly assigned partner. In an elimination round match, both teams on the alliance would be disqualified.
Disqualifications are always issued at the end of the match, never during.
The head referee will use the following flow chart to help determine if a violation is match affecting:
Safety Violations:
A disablement is a penalty issued to any team for a safety violation. A team that is disabled is not allowed to operate their robot for the remainder of the match, and the drive team member(s) will be asked to place their controller(s) on the ground.
If at any time it is determined that a robot or team ‘s actions are unsafe or have damaged a field element, scoring object, or the field, the offending team may receive a disablement and/or disqualification at the discretion of the head referee. Disabled robots will need to be re-inspected before taking the field in future matches.
A robot that is completely out of the playing field will be disabled for the remainder of the match.
Holding:
Holding is when a robot meets any of the following criteria during a match:
- trapping (limiting the movement of an opponent to a small area of the field without an avenue for escape)
- pinning (preventing the movement of an opponent through contact with the field perimeter, field or game element, or another robot)
- lifting (controlling an opponent’s movements by raising or tilting the opponent’s robot off of the foam tiles)
A robot may not hold an opposing robot for more than a 5-count. Once a count begins, the two robots must be separated by at least 2 feet for another 5-count. If a team resumes holding the same robot within this second 5-count, the original count will resume from where it ended.
Entanglement with another robot is not the same as holding. Some incidental entanglement may be expected, but intentional acts of grabbing, hooking, or attaching to an opponent robot may be deemed a major violation (and disqualification) at the head referee’s discretion.
A robot that is not attempting to move or escape is not considered trapped or pinned.
Assignment:
Go to the V5RC Drive Team Training Course and complete the Unit 1 Quiz.
If you miss any of the questions, now is the time to figure out why. Look back through the rules and the information listed in this session for clarification.