November Mission Model Discussion: INTERRUPTION PENALTIES

Welcome to the November Mission Model Discussion! This is the final installment of this year's series. Throughout this month in this space we have featured ONE part of the FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT game challenge per day. The Robot Game is only 1/4th of the overall FIRST LEGO League challenge for teams this year!
This post is meant to be an aid, not a replacement for carefully reading the Challenge Guide and Updates!

Today we will explore INTERRUPTION PENALTIES

At the Beginning of the Match

The referee will be in posession of all 6 Penalty Discs. The referee may have them in their hand, on their clipboard, in a pocket or lined up on a wall of the game table. If the referee has them on the wall and your robot is going to use that wall, please let your referee know before the match begins.

Required for Scoring

Penalty Discs are added to the white corner triangle when an Interruption results in a penalty as defined in R14.

R14 - INTERRUPTING if you INTERRUPT the Robot, you must stop it immediately, *then calmly pick it up for a re-Launch. Here's what happens to the Robot and anything it was Transporting, depending on where each was at the time:
ROBOT

• Completely in Base = Re-Launch

• NOT Completely in Base = Re-Launch + Penalty

TRANSPORTED THING WHICH CAME FROM BASE DURING THE MOST RECENT LAUNCH

• Always = Keep It (must still be transported at the time of the interrupt, do not pick it up if it is on the mat or a model.)

TRANSPORTED THING WHICH DID NOT COME FROM BASE DURING THE MOST RECENT LAUNCH

• Completely in Base = Keep It

• NOT Completely in Base = Give it to the referee (for the rest of the match)

IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO RE-LAUNCH, YOU MAY POWER DOWN YOUR ROBOT AND LEAVE IT IN PLACE ON THE TABLE!

Points

0 - No Interruptions occurred where the robot was not Completely in Base.
-3 - 1 Interruption for team interacting with a robot not Completely in Base.
-6 - 2 Robot Interruptions that were not Completely in Base.
-9 - 3 Robot Interruptions were the robot was not Completely in Base.
-12 - 4 Team Interactions with the Robot when it was not Completely in Base.
-15 - 5 Interruptions of the Robot by the team when the robot was not Completely in Base.
-18 - 6 or more Interruptions of the Robot by the by the team when the robot was not Completely in Base.

Note from Oregon Head Referee Tom

To avoid an Interruption penalty when the Robot returns to Base, it must be Completely In Base when it is touched  - including both the curved boundary line on the mat AND the inside edge of the South and West walls that border Base.

Real World Impact

Sometimes there are strategies and errors that cost your team points on their way to success. This can happen if you are innovating a new solution to a problem, building a robot, or launching a mission into space! There are lots of hazards in life to navigate around. Thankfully the penalties in our game only last for 2.5 minutes!

Discussion

Penalties provide us with added motivation for testing and measuring our successes. They also provide us with strategic opportunities. There is a maximum amount of penalties, -18 points. Also, a single penalty is far less than can be scored in any mission. How can your team use penalties to your advantage in your game strategy?