Steve, In regards to the bacteria and base, I have a related question that I don't understand. Let's say your robot has possession every bacterium from all four dumping stations (pink, red, green and purple) and before it makes it back to base it gets stuck. What happens to the bacteria? Does the ref dump it on the mat right where it got stuck or does he take it out of play off the table? How would this be scored? The mission requirements simply state that you get 12 points for each of the four dumping stations if no bacteria is touching the mat outside base. So would you still get 48 points if your robot successfully removes them from the dumping stations without spilling any on the mat but failed to make it back to base and had to be rescued? A second question about bacteria scoring: The rules state: "Empty dispensers are worth twelve points each, if NO bacteria touching the mat outside base." Does this mean that if the robot successfully retrieves (none touching the mat) all bacteria of red, purple and pink but spilled a single green one that the value of all four empty dispensers decreases from 12 to 7, or do you still get 12 points for the three successful retrievals and seven for the unsuccessful one? Thanks, Andy Coach Vienna Robotics -----Original Message----- From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of VA/DC Referee Advisor Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 10:14 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Cargo in base Rule 21, tells us that for an object to be In Base -- any part of that object is in the volume over the Base area (and under the 16 inch limit, of course). As long as a single atom of the object is over the line, then the entire object is in Base. So, I think that that is what you want to hear. As soon as the tiniest portion of the farm truck crosses into Base, the truck is in Base and may be handled by the team. As soon as the tiniest portion of the refrigerated trailer crosses into Base, the trailer is Base and may be handled by the team. But--Rule 21 also says that individual objects are ruled on independently. So, for example, if your team puts a rat or the pizza into the trailer and then takes the trailer to Base, then the trailer might be in Base, but the pizza or the rat might still not be in Base, and if the team touches the robot or cargo, then some items would stay in Base with the team (the trailer), and others could be taken out of play (the pizza or rat), per Rule 18. Don't despair though. Game update 24, Multi-part Models (at http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/robotgameupdates), says that the farm truck and its produce and the trailer and its bacteria are treated as a single model for purposes of entering base. So as soon as the truck starts to cross into Base, your team may take the truck and its produce into Base for handling or storage. The same for the trailer and its bacteria--it can be moved out of the way as soon as it starts to enter Base. Reminder--the robot has to cross into Base itself to avoid a touch penalty. So if the robot is pushing either of those cargo items into Base, the cargo item might be in Base without a penalty, but the robot could still incur a penalty. I hope that this helps to make things clear. Remember, it is important to distinguish between what happens to an individual cargo item, which might be different than what happens to the rest of the cargo. Steve Scherr VA/DC FLL Referee Advisor On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 9:50 PM, Mandy Wilson <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Just to verify – Does rule 21 mean that if only part of the cargo reaches > base then it is considered in base for points and the team can move the > cargo out of the way? This is a particular problem for my team concerning > the produce truck and the refrigerator truck. > > > > Thanks for any help! > > > > Mandy Wilson > > Coach of Team Piheads > > www.piheads.com > > ________________________________ > To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit > https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave > the list". > VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. > Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-announcements-l.html to > subscribe. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". -- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe.