Appendix D - Rule Violations

This appendix is intended to provide additional guidance regarding rule Violations within the VEX IQ Robotics Competition, and offer further explanation on how Violations may be interpreted and enforced during Matches. It is designed to promote consistency in officiating and to help Teams better understand how actions on the Field may impact scoring, Match outcomes, and referee decisions.

All Violation notes to denote special circumstances or provide additional clarifications have been consolidated into this section such that they may be easily referenced. If no Violation notes are found in a given rule, then it should be assumed that the below “default” definitions apply.

This appendix does not supersede any existing rule, but instead serves as a secondary resource to aid in their application.

Violation - The act of breaking a rule in the Game Manual.

• Minor Violation - A Violation which does not result in a Disqualification.

  • Accidental, momentary, or otherwise non-Score Affecting Violations are usually Minor Violations.
  • Minor Violations usually result in a verbal notification from the Head Referee during the Match, which should serve to inform the Team that a rule is being Violated before it escalates to a Major Violation.

• Major Violation - A Violation which results in a Disqualification.

  • Unless otherwise noted in a rule, all Score Affecting Violations are Major Violations.
  • If noted in the rule, egregious or strategic Violations or intentional actions that result in Violations may also be Major Violations.
  • Multiple Minor Violations within a Match or Tournament may escalate to a Major Violation at the Head Referee’s discretion or as specified in a rule. Minor Violations carry over into Finals Matches unless otherwise specified within a rule.

• Score Affecting - A Violation which improves an Alliance’s score at the end of a Match.

  • Multiple Violations within a Match can cumulatively become Score Affecting.
  • When evaluating whether a Violation was Score Affecting, Head Referees will focus primarily on any Robot actions that were directly related to the Violation.
  • Determining whether a Violation was Score Affecting can only be done once the Match is complete and the scores have been calculated.
  • To determine whether a Violation may have been Score Affecting, check whether the Violation directly contributed to increasing the score of the Match. If it did not increase the Alliance’s score, then the Violation was not Score Affecting, and it was very likely a Minor Violation.

Violations of <GG>, <SG>, and <RSC> rules that occur during a Robot Skills Match should only affect the outcome of that Match and should not be considered when determining whether a Violation has been repeated during the event.