6.6      Violations

Upon any instance of a rule violation, unless otherwise noted, 1 or more of the penalties listed in Table 6‑3 are assessed.

Table 6‑3 Rule violations

6.6.1      YELLOW and RED CARDS

In addition to rule violations explicitly listed throughout this document, YELLOW CARDS and RED CARDS are used in FIRST Robotics Competition to address team and ROBOT behavior that does not align with the mission, values, and culture of FIRST.

The Head REFEREE may assign a YELLOW CARD as a warning, or a RED CARD for egregious behavior inappropriate at a FIRST Robotics Competition event.

A YELLOW or RED CARD is indicated by the Head REFEREE holding a YELLOW and/or RED CARD in the air while the Game Announcer describes the violation.

YELLOW CARDS are additive, meaning that a second YELLOW CARD is automatically converted to a RED CARD. A team is issued a RED CARD for any subsequent incident in which they receive an additional YELLOW CARD, including earning a second YELLOW CARD during a single MATCH. A second YELLOW CARD is indicated by the Head REFEREE holding a YELLOW CARD and RED CARD in the air simultaneously after the completion of the MATCH. A team that has received either a YELLOW CARD or a RED CARD carries a YELLOW CARD into subsequent MATCHES, except as noted below.

Once a team receives a YELLOW or RED CARD, its team number is presented with a yellow background on the audience screen at the beginning of all subsequent MATCHES, including any replays, as a reminder to the team, the REFEREES, and the audience that they carry a YELLOW CARD.

Figure 6‑4 Example audience screen graphic showing YELLOW CARD indicators

All YELLOW CARDS are cleared in FMS at the conclusion of Practice, Qualification, and division Playoff MATCHES. Verbal warnings are cleared after Practice MATCHES and persist from Qualification MATCHES through subsequent tournament phases. The Head REFEREE may opt to perpetuate a verbal warning or YELLOW CARD earned during Practice MATCHES through to Qualification MATCHES for particularly egregious behavior.

6.6.2      YELLOW and RED CARD application

YELLOW and RED CARDS are applied based on the following:

Table 6‑4 YELLOW and RED CARD application

6.6.3      YELLOW and RED CARDS during Playoff MATCHES

During Playoff MATCHES, YELLOW and RED CARDS are assigned to the violating team’s entire ALLIANCE instead of to only the violating team. If an ALLIANCE receives 2 YELLOW CARDS, the entire ALLIANCE is issued a RED CARD which results in DISQUALIFICATION for the associated MATCH. If both ALLIANCES receive a RED CARD, the ALLIANCE assessed the first RED CARD, chronologically, is DISQUALIFIED and loses the MATCH.

6.6.4      Violation Details

There are several styles of violation wording used in this manual. Below are some example violations and a clarification of the way the violation would be assessed. The examples shown do not represent all possible violations, but rather a representative set of combinations.

Table 6‑5 Violation examples