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Personally, the screws should fine as long as they don't interfere with the battery or the domino pieces as to give them extra friction or better footing as they stand on top of the platform, also they should be flushed against the platform surface. The intent of the rule obviously is to have the battery and the dominoes stand freely on a smooth surface and the steadiness in which the platform is raised is the key objective.

The question is: is it obvious that the screw heads don't alter anything? Countersinking the screws and using wood putty might be a safer bet (unless, of course, the putty were considered to not be smooth enough.)

I can see someone taking issue with the fact that the screw head "might" be an influencing factor, no matter what you do. A simple remedy (if feasible) might be to place a secondary thin surface over your existing platform and attach it with glue, and call that your "flat, smooth, solid plane".

Jkwashbourne wrote: We are doing this for the first time this year, and the comments in other threads are making us nervous about being disqualified.

Disqualified is a term limited to just a few scenarios; actually it is mentioned only in regard to remotely timed devices (rule 3.g, also see general rules for other possibilities). Even unsafe devices are not necessarily dq'd, but can get participation points (rules 2 & 9). Devices with construction violations (like being too big) also are not dq'd, but placed in a lower tier. Perhaps your concern is about each of the tasks fulfilling the rules. If a particular task does not fulfill the rules or it fails to operate, you don't receive the points for that task. A step that fails to operate usually causes a touch penalty, but you can still receive points for all the other tasks if they work. It seems a touch penalty does not even place you in a lower tier (rule 9.b). Follow the rules as closely as possibly and get all the points you can get based on available materials and skill levels of team members. Weigh the pros and cons of trying to get certain points as mentioned in other posts. Try to avoid obvious violations, etc and you should come out with a good placement.

so if one were to create their own dominoes, would they have to conform to "about" one of the standard proportions and what requirements would that entail in order for homemade dominoes to be acceptable?

Can anyone please give me some ideas on how to lift the platform for the final task? I am puzzled.

I would imagine as long as all three dimensions meet the requirements (less than 4.5 x 2.5 x 0.8 cm) you're good to go. There were no weight or density requirements.

But then again, I would imagine proportionality should be a factor. Imagine a domino that's 4 x 1 x .8. I would guess it would be harder to tip over than a "standard" one. Hmmm.....

By the way - at the invitational we were at last weekend, the Mission judges told each team before they competed that if any domino fell off the platform they'd lose the points for the final task, since they didn't meet all 4 conditions.

How would you guys lift the platform using a scissor lift and motor.

Could you guys suggest what time of motor i should get.

the slower the steadier? but you would sacrifice your time...

Slower is often better because I will be guessing most of your tasks will take little time to complete. If you insert one time eater, preferably adjustable, you can earn many more points, since the average Mission Possible device will not take >60 seconds to operate.

Splicerblade wrote:How would you guys lift the platform using a scissor lift and motor.

Could you guys suggest what time of motor i should get.

This is the one we are using for the last task (it could take a week or two to get it though):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-DC-5RPM-Hig ... 3376ca11cd