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??:

 

______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL administrative announcements will be distributed - visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".