Referee Training

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BBB Event Tools:

BBB Referee Training:

Updated 10/3/23
  • Robot Arming:
    • Usher non-spinner robots to arm first with arena marshal, then spinner ones
    • Once robot is readied with arena marshal, ask roboteers to place their transmitter on roof / table and usher them to the drivers area 
  • Fight Prep:
    • Only team members *with transmitters* in the driving area. 
    • Make sure no roboteers are too close to the arena (ideally 1m gap) and are also not standing in places that obscure the view for spectators. (hopefully marked!)
    • Ensure you can see the arena properly as well as being near enough to the roboteers to be easily heard.
    • Check you know the names of the robots. 
    • Ensure clear lipo fire escape route.
  • Fight Ready / Start: 
    • Once the arena door is closed and locked, roboteers can take back transmitters and drive to their starting squares (red square, blue square, OOTA wall for 3rd bot if applicable)
    • Check all roboteers are ready and call “ready” to the arena marshal.
    • When count down starts, check robots do not drive / spin up until the “begin” sound is heard & white lights are on in the arena. If this does occur, call “cease, false start” and ask the roboteers to drive back to their starting squares.
  • Pit button pressed:
    • (any time after 30s “pit enabled” sound) Call “pit” to the arena marshal.
  • Pins & Grabs: counting up. See comp rules for more details on pins, grabs, unsticks etc.
    • Pins are max 10s – pushing robot against a wall / object  (no active weapon usage)
      Call “Pin 10 seconds! 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 release”
    • Grabs are max 20s – using articulation to restrict movement (any active weapon usage)
      Call “Grab 20 seconds! 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 release!”
  • Show Movement: counting down.
    • Mobility – A robot is counted down when it can’t move outside its turning circle and is also not in contact with other team’s robots. Contact with another team’s robot during the count will restart it. Call “X robot show movement! 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 X robot eliminated”
    • If there’s a double elimination after 10 count, goes to a judges decision (eg – 2 bots stuck for 2nd time on each other, on wall or both down pit with neither touching floor)
  • Significant smoke from a robot:
    • Call “pause” – transmitters on roof, marshal to assess whether fight can continue. Small amounts of smoke are typically from wheels, belts, small electronic failures.
  • Unsticks: 
    • No arena unsticks (10 count for mobility)
    • One bot-on-bot unstick total in match (if unable to unstick (eg – robot over the pit or it’s 2nd bot-on-bot unstick, it goes to judges decision)
  • Fight end:
    • It is the referee’s responsibility to end fights unless it’s a safety issue (then the arena marshal may pause the fight)
    • Roboteers can ‘tap out’ to concede the match by tapping the arena & telling the referee.
    • Final 10 seconds of fight (audio) – do not start a new count for pin, grab or movement.
    • Call “cease” if fight timer has ended or you’ve finished all mobility counts and there’s one functional entry remaining.
    • Get roboteers to drive robots to door quickly if they are able to.
    • Get roboteers to place transmitters on roof / table.
    • Once their robot is disarmed in their hands, usher roboteers to interview area / back to pits.

Disclaimer: Building, maintaining and fighting combat robots is dangerous and comes with risk that must be assessed on a person by person basis. We cannot be held liable for any personal injury, loss of property or money from partaking in building, maintaining, repairing, testing or fighting combat robots even when following our guides and rulesets.