Competition Rules

The 2022 Rah Cha Cha Ruckus will follow the 2022 FIRST RAPID REACT Rules.

While we feel that FIRST has done a fantastic job with creating a rule book to satisfy every FIRST team, there are a few rule changes that we feel could enhance the game play at this off-season event. The rule modifications which will be used at Ruckus can be found below.

There will be a drivers meeting Saturday morning where any questions can be asked to the head referee. Please refer to the 2022 FIRST Rapid React Rules for any rule clarifications first. Thank you!

*** Preliminary rule changes as of 8/23 - check back for finalized changes!

Rule Modifications

In the rule modifications below, text that is underlined represents Ruckus-specific additions to an existing game rule.

Robot Weight

<R5> is changed as follows:

<R103> The ROBOT weight must not exceed 125 130 lbs.

Reasoning: Robots will be given a 5 lb. weight allowance beyond that allowed in the FIRST RAPID REACT official rules in acknowledgement that teams may have had to, or will need to, make repairs to their robot that may put them just over the weight limit. All other portions of this rule remain unchanged and in effect.

Game Pieces

Game pieces employed at Ruckus will be the same as normal events except that CARGO may vary slightly in color and may have markings or text different than specified in the official rules. Additionally, we wish to clarify the following:

Game pieces used at Ruckus will be "used" and as such will not be in pristine condition. While we will do our best to use pieces which will not seriously impact team play, teams should expect some variation in game pieces, primarily that CARGO may be fuzzy, have small gashes, markings, or other variances in condition.

Robots repeatedly damaging game pieces and/or field elements through sloppy or extremely aggressive game play should expect to draw attention of referees, resulting in DISABLE per <G301> part F. Repeat violations will quickly escalate to issuance of YELLOW or RED CARDs per <H201>.

Reasoning: Due to limited availability of game pieces, we will have a limited quantity of spare game pieces on hand; robots causing damage to field elements will be required to correct the situation before being allowed to compete in future MATCHes.

Alliance Selections and Playoffs

ALLIANCE selection and assignment of teams to PLAYER STATIONS will follow RAPID REACT rules for typical regional play. This is not a change to the game rules but we are highlighting this fact here due to the fact that in prior years Ruckus has used the Championship-style alliance selection system (4 team alliances with no backups). Due to the smaller size of the 2022 event we will not be using that system this year and wanted to make this very clear to teams in advance.

Real-Time Scoring

Real-time scoring will be employed at Ruckus as with traditional FIRST events. However, we wish clarify operation of the real time scoring as follows:

Any failure of real-time scoring will not be considered an ARENA FAULT provided that the real-time scoring inaccuracies are able to be corrected to the satisfaction of the HEAD REFEREE and field support staff upon conclusion of the MATCH.

Reasoning: While RAPID REACT Real-time scoring has been relatively reliable at official and off-season events, on extremely rare occasions issues do arise. We wish to strike a balance that is both fair to teams in terms of competition play, but at the same time make reasonable allowances for failures or human errors that have no or very limited impact on the strategic play of the game and that do not severely change the end result of the game.