Brian,
  thanks for bringing up this question.  I don't always think about
all the kinetic effects of the game until I see the robots in action.

  There are a couple of pertinent bullets in Rule 22, Model Damage:
*  If a model is manipulated into a scoring condition, but gets
damaged during the process, the condition is marked scoreless.
*  Any model damage obviously due to poor setup or lack of maintenance
is treated with benefit of the doubt.

  More importantly, Rule 32, Precedence/Authority, says that the
information in the Missions document takes priority over the Rules.
The Bowling mission requires that the pins be knocked down by impact
from a ball.  If the bowling pins were not correctly set up straight
and tightened, then it's quite possible that they would be damaged
because of the impact.  So, as long as the robot is not using a
bazooka-like effect to launch the bowling ball, my ruling would be
that damage to the pins would NOT cause the Bowling mission to be
marked scoreless.

  Although I sympathize strongly with the distinction between
"deliberate mission model damage" and "accidental mission model
damage", this year's rules don't include wording about intention
(except to say that you aren't allowed to assume it [Rule 3]).  That
doesn't really affect teams, because teams that intended to do
something that could damage mission models shouldn't be able to argue
that it was unintentional.  So be careful, if the robot delivers the
garden upside down or on its side and one of the flowers breaks off,
then the Gardening mission is likely to be marked scoreless.

  Lastly, recent Virginia/DC FLL policy has been that tournament
models will not be glued together, so your teams shouldn't expect to
see unbreakable models during a competition.

Steve Scherr
VA/DC FLL Referee Advisor

On Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 12:43 AM, Bdh612-ess <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Rule 25 says that mission models broken in the process of being moved into
> scoring position are scoreless. This seems obvious, but the bowling pins
> have me concerned - they're long, spindly, easily separated, and they're
> having a ball launched at them. I've had to put them back together so many
> times, I can't count.
>
> Does this mean the robot has to throw/launch/project/whatever the ball at
> the pins gently?
>
> Brian
>
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