Here is a question that I submitted to FIRST on 1/18/03 and their reply on 1/28/03. I thought that all the teams should be made aware of this.
Question:
We have been patiently waiting for a response from FIRST on several aspects of the scoring and SHU measuring device that are not defined in the rules. I posted question about this on 1/16/03 titled “Bins on its side (Part 3) but there has been no answer. The rules in section 7.6 and SC9 do not completely define the measurement system. Also, the FIRST response to questions titles “Bins on its side (First’s Response) ” stated “The measuring system will be divided into 14.75" increments. 1 box on end would extend past the 1st increment but rounding down means this = 1 container or point. Because it extends into the 2nd scoring increment does not mean it counts for 2”. Using this logic one container sitting flat on the carpet would be rounded down to zero. Please help by answering these questions about the scoring. 1. What are the exact markings on the “official and SHU measuring device”? 2. Is “1 SHU” at the bottom of the measuring device and “2 SHU” at 14 ¾’ etc.? 3. Is a bin on its side measuring 17.25” equal to 1.78 SHU or 0.78 SHU?
Reply:
The basic intent of the Game is to stack containers and to get a multiplier value from the stacks. A single container is not a stack. If there are no stacks, than one container in the scoring zone will be considered the multiplier and it will have zero value. If two containers are nested, bottom down, they will measure 2 SHU and result in a multiplier of 2. If two containers are stacked lid to lid, they are still only a stack height of 2 even though they measure higher that the 2 stack height because the height is rounded down. If two containers are stacked short face to short face, they still only result in a stack multiplier of 2 because of the rounding down factor. It is possible that you could end up with a pile that would have a number of containers stacked on their short faces that could extend above the SHU value so that a SHU score of 4 could result from only 3 containers. The sloped sides, rounded edges and total number of containers of the containers should prevent this from happening. The STU value will be in whole numbers. No fractions. 14-3/4 inches is equal to 1 SHU . A stack of 2 nested containers measures a little over 30 inches. It has a stack height of 2 STU even though it is more that 29 1/2 inches tall.
The official STU measuring procedure is yet to be determined. The measuring stick will be a vertical shaft marked at the STU points. A simple hand level may be used by the referee to decide if a pile breaks the horizontal plane of the STU value. Laser levels will not be used. Strings and poles will not be used. The measuring system must be easily understood by the spectators and the teams. Rounding down helps to do this. Exact measurement will be left to the decision of the referees using whatever measuring technique is finally accepted.
36F