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G415       *Stay out of other ROBOTS. A ROBOT with BUMPERS completely outside of their ALLIANCE ZONE may not damage or functionally impair an opponent ROBOT by initiating contact, either directly or transitively via a SCORING ELEMENT CONTROLLED by the ROBOT:

A.      inside the vertical projection of an opponent’s ROBOT PERIMETER, or

B.      with the opponent’s BUMPER backing or mounting.

Exceptions to this rule:

C.      Contact between the ROBOT’S BUMPERS or COMPONENTS inside the ROBOT PERIMETER and COMPONENTS inside an opening of an opponent’s BUMPERS or in the space above the BUMPER opening

D.      Damage or functional impairment because of contact with a tipped-over opponent ROBOT

E.      A ROBOT that is not in violation of G403 making contact with an opponent ROBOT during AUTO

F.      Damage that appears to the REFEREE as cosmetic only

Violation: MAJOR FOUL and YELLOW CARD, or if opponent ROBOT is unable to drive, then MAJOR FOUL and RED CARD.

FIRST Robotics Competition can be a full-contact competition and may include rigorous game play. While this rule aims to limit severe damage to ROBOTS, teams should design their ROBOTS to be robust.

Examples for this rule include, but are not limited to:

A.      A ROBOT leaves an arm extended and hits an opponent ROBOT inside their ROBOT PERIMETER in the NEUTRAL ZONE. No damage is seen so no violation is assigned.

B.      A RED ROBOT in their ALLIANCE ZONE hits a BLUE ROBOT inside their ROBOT PERIMETER. As this occurred inside the RED ALLIANCE ZONE, no violation is assigned.

C.      A ROBOT leaves an arm extended, spins around to change course, and unintentionally hits and damages a COMPONENT inside the ROBOT PERIMETER of a nearby opponent ROBOT in the NEUTRAL ZONE. This would result in a MAJOR FOUL + YELLOW CARD.

D.      A ROBOT, in the process of trying to quickly reverse direction, tips up on a single pair of wheels, lands atop an opponent ROBOT in the NEUTRAL ZONE, and damages a COMPONENT inside that opponent’s ROBOT PERIMETER. This would result in a MAJOR FOUL + YELLOW CARD.

E.      Accidentally opening an opponent’s relief valve in the NEUTRAL ZONE such that the opponent’s air pressure drops and they can no longer use their intake. This is seen as functionally impairing the ROBOT so would result in a MAJOR FOUL + YELLOW CARD.

F.      Accidentally powering off an opponent ROBOT in the NEUTRAL ZONE. This is seen as functionally impairing the ROBOT and results in a MAJOR FOUL + RED CARD as the ROBOT is no longer able to drive.

At the conclusion of the MATCH, the Head REFEREE may elect to visually inspect a ROBOT to confirm violations of this rule made during a MATCH and remove the violation if the damage cannot be verified.

For the purposes of this rule, “initiating contact” is a judgement call as to which ROBOT(s) in any interaction were responsible for the contact occurring based on direction of travel and relative speeds of both ROBOTS. Generally, for a ROBOT to have initiated contact, at minimum they have to be both moving towards the opponent ROBOT and have reasonable possibility to have avoided the contact. 

In a collision, it’s possible for both ROBOTS to initiate contact.

"Unable to drive" means that because of the incident, for approximately ~20+ seconds, the DRIVER can no longer drive to a desired location in a reasonable time (generally). For example, if a ROBOT can only move in circles, or can only move extremely slowly, the ROBOT is considered unable to drive.

The exception in G415-C effectively means that ROBOTS with BUMPER gaps are at their own risk regarding damaging contact in these areas.

Similar Rules

Rule G416
G416       *This isn’t combat robotics. A ROBOT may not intentionally and/or recklessly damage or functionally impair an opponent ROBOT.
Rule G417
G417       *Don’t tip or entangle. A ROBOT may not deliberately, attach to, tip over, or entangle with an opponent ROBOT.
Rule G413
G413       Expansion limits. A ROBOT may not extend beyond any of the horizontal or vertical expansion limits described in R105, R106, and R107.
Rule G410
G410       *Keep your BUMPERS low. ROBOT extensions may not interact with the carpet, BUMPS, or TOWER BASE such that the BUMPERS are lifted out of the BUMPER ZONE (see R405).