FIRST Tech Challenge Game Manual Part 2 | 17
Alliance’s Score. Referees have the option of issuing a Major Penalty in place of the Minor Penalty if the late
stop results in a competitive advantage (other than Scoring) for the offending Alliance.
Robot Scoring achievements that occur after the announced end of the Autonomous Period and before the
start of the Driver-Controlled Period do not count towards the Score for the Autonomous and Driver-Controlled
Periods. Referees may remove any Scoring Elements that are improperly Scored in this manner.
<G9> Drive Team Contact with the Playing Field or Robot – During a Match, the Drivers and Coaches are
prohibited from making contact with the Playing Field, any Game Element, or any Robot. The first instance of
contact will result in a warning, with any following instances resulting in a Minor Penalty and/or Disqualification.
Contact that affects Scoring and/or game play will result in Disqualification at the discretion of the referees.
Contact with the Playing Field, a Game Element, or a Robot for safety reasons will not result in a warning or
Penalty.
<G10> Autonomous to Driver-Controlled Period Transition – At the conclusion of the Autonomous Period
the Head Referee at his or her discretion will untangle Robots, place Robots on their drivetrains, make minor
adjustments to Robot position, etc. so that the Robots can participate in the Driver-Controlled portion of the
Match. The referees will do this after finding out from the Team where the best place is to touch their Robot. At
this time, if a Robot has lost its Wi-Fi Direct connection to the Team’s Driver Station or if it is locked-up, power
to the Robot may be reset under supervision of the Field Technical Advisor as long as the Match is not
extraordinarily delayed. If the Robot is not controllable after attempts to get it working with the Team’s Driver
Station, it will be Disabled and remain in place for the remainder of the Match.
When instructed by field personnel to do so, Drive Teams may use their Driver Station to select an Op Mode,
initialize, start, and reset their Robot as appropriate.
<G11> Drive Team Coach Interference – During the Driver-Controlled Period, Robots must be remotely
operated only by the Drivers using the Team’s Driver Station and/or by software running in the on-board Robot
control system. The first instance of Coach interference (e.g. touching a Gamepad) will result in a warning, with
any following instances resulting in a Major Penalty and/or Disqualification. During the Driver-Controlled Period,
Drive Team Coaches and/or Drivers are allowed to hold the Team’s Driver Station Android Device and interact
with it to select an Op Mode, view information displayed on the screen, and initialize, start, stop, and reset the
Robot.
<G12> Recording the Score After Objects Come to Rest – Referee scoresheets will be filled out at the end
of the Autonomous and Driver-Controlled Periods when all objects on the Playing Field have come to rest. A
change in the state of a Game Element or Robot that occurs before a referee records the Score on the
scoresheet will affect the Match Score. A change in state of a Game Element or Robot after its Score is
recorded on the scoresheet will not change an already-recorded Score.
<G13> Robots Deliberately Detaching Parts – Robots may not deliberately detach parts during a Match, or
leave mechanisms on the Playing Field. If a deliberately-detached component or mechanism prevents
additional Scoring by any Robot, the offending Robot will be Disabled and the Team will be Disqualified.
Multiple infractions may result in tournament Disqualification.
<G14> Robots Grasping Game Elements – Robots may not grab, grasp or attach to any Game Element or
structure other than Scoring Elements, unless specifically allowed by game-specific rule(s) listed in Section
1.6.3. The first instance will result in a warning with any following violations resulting in a Major Penalty and/or
Disqualification.
<G15> Destruction, Damage, Tipping, etc. – Strategies and mechanisms aimed solely at the destruction,
damage, tipping over, or entanglement of Robots or Game Elements are not in the spirit of the FIRST Tech
Challenge and are not allowed. However, FTC games are highly interactive and Robot-to-Robot contact and