Rule Documents
Purpose
Midwest Robot Combat Association was born from proposals of joining a few Midwest Discord servers together. Regardless of how competitive this league gets, it is our intent that “fun” is never forgotten and we can still keep this community a welcoming place. The competitive side effects of this league are intended to push more boundaries and keep things interesting for everyone involved. The intent is NOT to discourage newcomers or people who don’t have the resources to build a robot up to a certain standard.
Competitor Expectations
Competitors are free to build as many robots as they want, but they can only pick any two to drive at a time during a qualifier event. Finals qualification strategies that employ clones or very similar robots are extremely frowned upon by the MRCA. These strategies are not viable for everyone’s set of resources, and they take variety away from the league. We have some ways to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Team members must stay on their team for the entirety of the MRCA season. This means they cannot drive for other teams. A team can be just one person if that’s desired. Members can also be added to a team later in the MRCA season (provided they haven’t driven on another team).
Within a team, no robots are allowed to be too similar. Our official ruling is that no more than 50% of any two robots can have interchangeable parts, but if the robots are still obviously too similar, MRCA reserves the right to prevent a robot from competing. There are cases where, for example, two four-wheel drive vertical spinners could have slightly different frame mounting (and not be interchangeable) along with different internals to make it eligible under our ruling. However, if the two robots look basically identical sitting next to each other, you’re probably not within the spirit of the league. Don’t take it too far and force us to shut you down.
Ranking
The MRCA will maintain a robot ranking system for the antweight (1lb) and beetleweight classes. The ranking system will be based on the Elo system commonly used in chess. This system adjusts each robot’s rating after a fight, with a larger adjustment if a match is a more unexpected outcome (a low rated robot defeating a high rated robot) than an expected outcome (a high rated robot defeating a low rated robot).
In the MRCA Elo ranking system, the type of victory will determine the scoring outcome used in the mathematical formula.
- A knockout counts for a 100% win/0% loss.
- A pit out or similar result counts for a 100% win/0% loss.
- A judges’ decision counts for a 70% win/30% loss.
The MRCA Elo ranking system results will apply to a robot indefinitely; they will not be erased at the end of any time frame. The results will apply to a robot, regardless of the driver. A robot that changes substantially but keeps the same name may be asked to change the name if this is deemed an attempt to take advantage of a previous design’s high ranking. A robot that has not undergone a significant change since competing may not change names and start a new rating to avoid the consequences of poor previous results.
The formula used for the MRCA Elo ranking system can be provided upon request to MRCA administrators. It will not be changed unless a specific concern or issue requires a change. Changes may only occur after the MRCA finals tournament and before the next qualifier tournament. Any change will be announced, with an explanation of the purpose and mathematical change implemented. The change will be applied to all previous results, and there will be no bias allowed in making the change.
Weight Verification
Before a match, any competitor can request a weight check. If either robot is found to be overweight, they will have 5 minutes to get within weight or they forfeit the match. If both robots are overweight the competitors will be given the same 5 minute countdown. If both competitors exceed the 5 minute timer the first one to get in weight will be awarded the victory regardless of robot function.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Unsportsmanlike Conduct includes but is not limited to: Post fight contact, sabotage, distraction of opposing robot operators, blatant early movement, etc.
Mistakes happen and we’ll be sure to verbally warn people and correct these honest mistakes. Everyone is here to have fun, and a lot of grace goes with that. If something unsportsmanlike is clearly and intentionally done, any event organizer within MRCA has the ability to forfeit your matches, robots, deny qualification for finals, and even deny participation in future events.