Section 2 FVC Q&A

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This thread will hold all Section 2 FVC Q&A
See Section 2 of the FVC Interactive Manual here
Download Section 2 and the rest of the FVC Manual here

To ask a question pertaining to Section Two of the FVC Game Manual, please use the "Post Reply" button at the top or bottom of this thread. Your question will be sent to the moderated queue and will be answered in the order it was received. Duplicate questions will not be posted in this thread, but will be archived in the "Duplicate FVC Game Questions" thread. Thanks and have fun

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Q: Is it legal to pick up the Atlas ball and put it onto the triangle formed by the atlas blocker bar and the corner of your side of the field?

Would this still be considered in your pocession?

A: Yes this maneuver is legal. Provided that the definition of "Possessing" was still met, Yes, the Atlas Ball on the ball blocker would be considered in your "Possession".

Please see: http://forums.usfirst.org/showpost.p...10&postcount=3 for the definition of "Possession"

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Q: Hanging is defined "in contact with the bar, and no part of the robot is in contact with the platform or foam playing surface."
What if there are other robots on the platform or floor, touching or supporting the "hanging" robot? Is is still hanging?

A: Yes. Under all other circumstances a robot will be considered as hanging so long as those two criteria are met (bar contact and no contact with plaform or foam) and no other rules are violated.

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Q: Are the Foam Field Tiles black or gray? Difficult to tell in the pictures, and the BOM does not specify.

A: The foam field tiles are gray with the smooth surface on top. These are the same tiles used in last year's game.

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Q:Is descoring of either softball goal allowed?

A: Yes, there is no rule prohibiting teams from collecting balls anywhere on the field.

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Q:Softballs which leave the playing field will not be reintroduced during the match. If the Atlas ball leaves the field, is it gone for the match?

A: Yes, the Atlas ball will not be returned to the field. See Rule 2.4.4 <G4> and Section 2.3 for definition of Balls

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Q:Each alliance has three balls available to preload into robots. "a. A softball is considered legally preloaded if it is touching the robot and not touching any part of the playing field or game object." What happens to balls NOT preloaded?

A: Balls not preloaded into a robot are kept off the field and are not put into play for this match.

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Q: If my alliance goes to an opposing alliance's goal (corner or high) and removes a softball from that goal, under the assumption that the ball that is removed never gets replaced, does removing the ball lower the opposing alliance's eventual end-of-match score (descore the ball)?

To ask this another way, is a sofball's contribution to an alliance's score permanently added to that alliance's score when that ball first enters a goal; or are an alliance's softball points tallied up permanently only at the end of the match (and temporarily tallied at the end of autonomy to see who gets the permanent autonomous bonus).

A: Yes, removing the ball lowers the opposing alliance score. Scores are calculated at the end of autonomy for the autonomous bonus and then again at the end of the match. Scores are not tallied immediately when a ball enters a goal.

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Q: "Softball – A standard regulation softball 11” circumference (3.5” diameter) that is located in stacks of four at specified locations around the field."

Does this mean that the softball may be of any color, model, and compression ratio (as these details are not defined) for the competition? Or is there a specific softball that will be used at all competitions?

A: The "official tournament" softballs are optic yellow, cork core, 11", 0.44 COR, 375 lb compression from Worth, part # YWCS11. However, nearly any 11" circumference softball will do for testing and practice. Also, please remember that there may be slight variances in softballs, even from ball to ball (as well as other field components), and teams need to design to accommodate this.

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Q: What kind of playing surface will the robots be competing on?

A: 2'x2' Gray interlocking tiles from www.softtiles.com, smooth side up. From here: http://www.usfirst.org/vex/resources/ you will find a link to all specific field drawings and information which reside at: http://www.vexrobotics.com/fields/