General Information and Rule Questions

Christy said:

If the robot has a part that is touching the mat, can it be touching the black line and still be in the safe zone?

Doug RCX said:

For the robot to be considered “In” the Safe Zone, the outside edge of the Black Line is the dividing line between being “In” & “Out” of the Safe Zone. Any part of the robot may touch the mat, at the start of a mission, “Inside” the Safe Zone area.

Lisa Golladay said:

Can a team use more than one robot, on the board at the same time?

Doug said:

The team may use ONLY 1 Brick. If you can run 2 robots from 1 Brick then yes.

Dave M said:

I haven’t seen any note and may have missed it if it is a rule – can an EV3 be programmed using EV3Dev and python or Java instead of using the Lego programming environment?

doug.rcx said:

Yes, You may use any language which is compatable with the Mindstorm EV3

Natasha said:

Will the mini fig set be available for sale this year?

Douglas Geiman said:

Each Ua Hala Ka Hala Challenge set comes with all the Minifigs. For that reason I do not have any extra minifigs right now

If I have extra sets, I would be interested in selling the minifigs. Contact me at the end of the season in April.

Wyn said:

Does the full robot have to be on top or under the quad for points.

Doug RCX said:

No. Partially or completely will score.

Review the Coaches Meeting video at minute 42:00 for a complete explanation. Make sure to follow the description as outlined in the document attached to Misssion 17.

Julia said:

Are we allowed to use a rubber band that came with the Lego Mindstorm kit on the robot in any way?

Doug RCX said:

Yes, you may use any LEGO branded materials.

Mary Adele said:

Is it legal for students to glued a robot attachment together – if it is made out of legos?

Doug RCX said:

“Glue”!@$#
Is a bad word. General Rule 14 prohibits the use of “Glue”

Scott said:

Are deliverables in the safe zone allowed to be moved before they are loaded onto the robot? Such as, can you move the bridge inside the safe zone so it’s out of the robot’s path, run a mission or more, the load it when the robot comes back?

Doug RCX said:

Scott, the answer is: Yes

Jerry Broyles said:

Mission 15: Does the Minifig need to be unattached from campfire site if they are delivered together? Could they be placed in a student-made vehicle first and then delivered together?

John Sewell said:

Mission 13: If the MiniFig goes into the Caves opening and is not touching the “Green Pad” does it still count? One of my teams deliver the minifig to the cave however, it goes through the door and lands on the mat or “Black line” behind the cave entrance, does it score?

Nathaneil Hatfield said:

Can a student hold items from the Safe Zone (either things to be delivered or already retrieved from the board) outside of the Safe Zone (in their hands etc)?

Kelly said:

This is my first year coaching my own team so I am trying to make sure I know all the correct things so we can run our programs correctly. Here are my questions:
1. Within each round does the robot need to go back to the start on its own or when a mission is completed can the kids pick it up and put it back in the safe zone to run the next mission?
2. I know it is okay to use an older model of the robot (NXT), but are there any requirements for how it is built. We have has a lot of trouble with motors not working and needing to switch out cords so our construction needed to be adjusted to the most basic robot.

Doug RCX said:

Nathaniel
Yes team members may handle any object found in the Safe Zone. They may hold the objects in their hands or move them to the Extension of Safe Zone.

Doug RCX said:

Kelly, glad to help.

1. The robot should return to the Safe Zone on it’s own. If the team touches the robot outside the Safe Zone, they will be assessed a Touch Penalty and the referee will take 1 of the Trees.

2. The General Rules lists the limitations for all robots. As long as you follow those rules you should be good.

Ted said:

Is the answer to Mission 18 out? We haven’t found it on the website yet. Send us a link to it if someone answered it. Thanks!

Youngdo Lee said:

Question about working as a team….
There should be no more than two team members at the table at one time. Understood. Other team members must stand away from the table but may switch in and out at any time. Got it.
In the past, team members standing away from the table were allowed to communicate with the two members at the table — calling out remaining time, giving reminders, etc… Referees did not allow this last year. What is the rationale behind this, and will team members still not be allowed to communicate this year?

Doug RCX said:

Yes, Mission 18 was responded to last year. The information regarding Mission 18 can be found with the Q&A for the secret mission.

Doug RCX said:

Hello Youngdo,

Yes, your evaluation of team member abilities is correct.

Coaches and other adults, are not allowed to communicate to team members during the match.

Team members are allowed to communicate among the entire team during the match. Team members can verbally communicate among themselves, whether at the board, or standing away from the board.

Aleasha Miceli said:

I am confused about the touch penalties. f anyone touches the robot outside of the safe zone, then they get a touch penalty and the referree removes one of the touch penalties from the board……but why does that matter? Do you get points for the remaining touch penalties that are lest on the board? What is the point of removing them from the board?

Tiffany Bennett said:

Does the black border around the mat count as an extension of the space attached to it for scoring purposes? For example, on the pterodactyl nest, if the eggs get pushed so far back that they are no longer actually touching either of the brown areas and is only in the black border, does it still score the same as if those brown areas were extended back that far?

Jay said:

Is there a height requirement for the robot? Or as long as it doesn’t touch the mat outside the safe zone then any height is fine?

Doug RCX said:

There are NO height limitations.

Will said:

Is there a certain number of people that have to be on a team to be eligible to compete?

Doug RCX said:

Hello Will
The General Rules allow 1 to 10 students to be on a team.

I recommend a minimum of 2 because of the actions the team members may have to do both within and outside of the Safe Zone during the Match