Introduction
The event meeting allows the emcee, event partner, and/or head referee to share important information about the event and the venue. Everyone—including teams, coaches, referees, judges, and parents—should attend the event meeting.
General Event Information (typically presented by the EP)
- Welcome and Introduction of key volunteers, including the event partner and head referee
- Share location of restrooms, concessions, and venue-specific rules and safety information
- Event emergency and evacuation plan
- Adult team leaders are responsible for student safety and conduct at all times
- Keep the pit area clean and organized for safety and easy repacking after the event
- Teams are responsible for their equipment and materials
- Practice fields – Teams should reset fields after use, share fields so all teams can practice, and limit time
- Solo Matches – Location(s) of solo match field(s); also, reminder of number of solo match runs allowed (3 & 3) and start/stop times
- For physical, in-person engineering notebooks – Submit labeled engineering notebooks to the check-in table before match play
- Agenda for the day – Start/stop times, breaks, special activities and their locations
- Judges will recognize student-centered work – Judges will consider compliance with the RECF Student-Centered policy for judged awards
- Alliance Selection – After all alliance matches are complete, the alliance selection process will consist of one round of selection, and ___ [the number of alliances] alliances of two teams will compete in the elimination matches.
- Timeouts – There are no timeouts during alliance matches. Each alliance may request one time out no greater than three minutes between matches during the elimination bracket.
- Qualifications to the state/regional championship – This event will qualify ___ [insert number of teams] teams to advance to the ___ [insert name] championship event, including the recipients of the ___ [insert qualifying award names] awards.
Rules Reminders for RECF Achieve Robotics Competition Pinnacle (typically presented by the Head Referee)
The Code of Conduct
- Please keep the RECF Code of Conduct in mind while competing today. Be respectful, stay professional, follow the rules, and we’ll all have a great event. Coaches, if you haven’t reviewed the Code of Conduct with your students, please take a few minutes to do that after this meeting. You can find it on the RECF website (and maybe an onsite banner—point it out if there’s one available).
- If a team or any of its members are disrespectful or uncivil to event staff, volunteers, or fellow competitors, they may be disqualified from a current match, upcoming match, or the entire event depending on the severity of the situation. Judges will also consider team conduct and ethics when determining awards. This applies to anyone associated with the team (participants and spectators).
- Booing and taunting are aren't allowed at RECF events, and can be considered a Code of Conduct violation.
- Individuals, event participants, and event staff who observe disrespectful or uncivil behavior should report it to the event partner immediately, along with any photo or video evidence.
- Only the team members at the field for the match may contest a referee’s ruling. Adults are not permitted to intervene. 3.4.4
- Event attendees are not allowed to record audio or video of teams’ discussions with head referees or other event staff/volunteers.
RECF Achieve Robotics Competition is a Student-Centered Program
- RECF Achieve Robotics Competition is a student-centered program. Adults should not make decisions about the robot’s build, design, or gameplay, and should not provide an unfair advantage by providing ‘help’ that is beyond the students’ independent abilities.
- Adults can cheer for teams, help them queue on time, and help them find resources. Adults should never work on the robot or code, guide match strategy, or tell teams who to choose in alliance selection.
- The robot design, construction, and programming must represent the skill level of the team.
Before the Match
- Get to the queuing table on time with a ready‐to‐drive robot and controller. If your robot isn't ready to play, having it in the alliance station will still get you points from the match. 5.4.1
- Check for safety glasses and the correct color of license plates. If the wrong color plates are on your robot, your bot will be removed from the field. 3.2.4/2.2.3
- Set your robot up quickly, in a legal starting position and configuration. 5.4.1/5.2.2/2.2.1
Autonomous Period
- You're not allowed to contact anything on the opponent’s side of the neutral zone. If you decide to venture into the neutral zone, your robot loses some protections and you should anticipate potential encounters with other robots! 5.3.1/5.3.2
- Any fouls during the autonomous period make you ineligible to receive an autonomous ranking point. 5.3.3
- Goals in the neutral zone are not protected during the autonomous period, but alliance-colored goals are. 5.3.4/5.3.5
During the Match
- Your robots cannot ever be larger than 24” wide by 24” long during the match, but there is no limit to how tall your robot can be during the match. 2.2.1
- You cannot use your robots in ways that prevent other robots from playing the game for extended periods of time. You cannot trap, hold, lift, or otherwise limit the action of an opponent robot for longer than a 4-count. 5.3.6
- Alliance colored goals are protected. 5.3.5
After the Match
- Check the score and raise any concerns about the match before you leave the field. 3.4.4
- Once you’ve left the driver box you’ve waived your right to any appeals. 3.4.4
- The referees will only talk to the team members at the field for that match about matches and can’t look at videos of the match. Period. 3.4.4
Solo Matches
- Each team gets up to three driving solo matches and three coding solo matches. Be sure to make time for solo matches!
- In a solo match, your robot must begin the match in contact with a red loader and not in contact with any pins or cups other than the preload pin. 3.2.2/3.2.3
- One drive team member can use the blue driver box during solo matches, but must remain there the entire match. All other drive team members must remain in the red driver box for the full match. 3.2.1
Share Feedback, and Have Fun!
- Direct questions, concerns, or positive feedback to the event partner.
Enjoy your RECF Achieve Robotics Competition experience! Thank you for your support!