3.5.4 of 2019 rules states that the robot has to “[…]follow[ed] the line until it has reached the tile after the ramp[…]” to receive the points.
As we want to be consistent with the international referees I’d like to know whether you would award the points for the ramp if the robot lost the line for a moment on the ramp but detected it again later?
Following the rules as strictly as possible, I think the points should not be awarded, yet it will lead to many discussions with the teams if the robot really lost the line or if it was the normal line follow behavior.
thanks for your quick reply. For “normal” tiles, there is a strict definition when losing a line results in an LoP (3.6.1b). The quote from 3.5.4 in my original question seems to be more strict than that. That’s why I’m asking.
Because if we are judging the ramp exactly like the flat tiles, it would be okay if the robot loses the trace on the ramp and re-detects it on the first tile (according to 3.6.1b) after the ramp. But in this case I think the part I quoted should be removed from the rules because it’s redundant and therefore a bit confusing. It could be replaced by something like “The LoP rules of 3.6.1 apply.”.
I can see that it seems redundant when looking at 3.5.4 and 3.6.1b. However, they are two distinct rules: one is talking about the condition to earn points for the ramp, and the other is talking about the condition for LoP.
But I can see why parts of the two seem confusing and furthermore the wording of the 3.5.4 rule is not great. We (as in TC members) will have a discussion about this and come back to you.
Thank you reply.
We are assuming various situations and thinking to cover them. However, in reality this is often noticed by questions from referees and students.
As Kai (2019TC) says, we have a discussion.
Such a question is very good for making the rules better.
Thank you.
Naomi
Sorry for putting you for such a long hold. In terms of the ramp, there is definitely an overcomplicating. We have decided to change rule 3.4.5 for “[…]Successfully navigating means the robot reached the top/bottom tile of the ramp from the inclined tile autonomously.”.
This is just through the TC, and is not the final rule version, so no 100% guarantees but you should expect such a change on the rules.