I’m still a bit unclear on the “test levees”
mission and thought I’d get the opinion of this group. The mission
description and latest rule updates (from the Q&A) are as follows:
Mission: See how levees survive when a storm
approaches (activate the wheel-roller). The wheel must be allowed to roll
freely until it either hits or misses the levees. The activation is worth 15
points whether the levees are hit or missed, but worth no points if the wheel
is strategically blocked by anything other than released levees near or past
the green shore.
RULING 17 – Levee Blocking 1
Nothing new here; just re-stating based on questions: 1) The
storm wheel must be allowed to “hit or miss” levies, so the robot
can’t tamper with the thrower’s operation (If I throw a baseball at
the moon, of course it won’t hit the moon, but did I miss? No!---My arm
was too wimpy to give me the chance to miss), and 2) The only levee blocks
allowed to block the wheel are those far enough away from the thrower as to be
considered “near” the shores by the referee. Make them obviously
closer than half way if you want a favorable call from the ref.
RULING 19 – Levee Blocking 2
A strategic object in the pink grid area is not a problem if
the wheel never hits it. So if you’re reinforcing your delivered levies
with a strategic object, make sure the levies themselves are still what the
storm would hit, and you’ll be all set.
The question is on the interpretation of the phrase “worth
no points if the wheel is strategically blocked by anything other than released
levees”. Here’s how I interpret the rule.
1.
The wheel rolls through a gap in the levees and is eventually
stopped by the wall of the competition table: 0 Points, the wheel was blocked
by something other than a “released levee” (but was it “strategically
blocked” ??).
2.
The wheel is blocked by one of the three pre-existing
levees that were in place at the start of the round: 0 Points, the rule says only
“released” levees are allowed to block it (I presume that means
ones that the robot has placed there?).
3.
The wheel coasts to a stop without running into anything:
15 Points.
If I understand the gist of this challenge, it’s to “release”
the levees in such a manner that they stop the “storm” (wheel).
Does this sound right??: