1. The maximum quantities listed are for the entire project, not for each separate device. Therefore if 4 cups are used for the launcher, none may be used in the catcher.
2. Materials may be cut for construction. Cuts may include simple breaks of materials or use of cutting implements such as scissors. They are counted based on whole units, therefore two halves of a pencil are considered 1 pencil when counting materials.
3. Tape shall be used for the purpose of securing items together in construction or securing items to the cardboard base. Tape may not be used within the catching device as adhesive (sticky side up) to trap the ball. Tape may not be used as a building material (such as taped in a grid to form a net).
4. The cardboard base shall only be used in the design of the launcher. It must remain flat and cannot be folded. No pieces may be cut off the cardboard base to utilize in other parts of either the launcher or the catcher.

Additional Materials
1. Scissors are the only tools allowed. No power tools, screwdrivers, hobby knives, hot glue guns, etc. may be used for construction.
2. Pencils, pens, and other markers may be used to mark on items as indicators for places to cut or attach parts or to assist with noting where the launcher should be secured or activated. A directional arrow may be marked on both the launcher and catcher to assist team members with lining up or aiming for launch.

Design Restrictions
1. The launcher must fit on top of the 12" by 12" piece of cardboard and cannot extend past the edges of the cardboard at rest. When activated by swinging an arm, stretching a rubber band, or other methods, design elements may extend beyond the edges of the cardboard but may not touch the ground. There is no height restriction.
2. The catcher can measure no more than 12" wide by 12" long. There is no height restriction.
3. The catcher must be free-standing and cannot be held by a team member nor secured (taped) to the ground.
4. Teams shall write their school name on both their launcher (likely on the top of the cardboard) and on their catcher.

The Ball
1. Each team will create 5 balls at the site of competition from foil provided at the start of the event.
2. Teams will receive 5 pieces of regular (not heavy duty) aluminum foil of approximately 12 inches by 12 inches in size. A team will create one launch ball from each piece of foil. The entire piece of foil must be used to form a ball with a maximum diameter of 2 inches. However, the ball may be smaller and more compact if desired.

The Launching Procedure
1. The launcher and catcher shall be positioned on the floor. One team member shall position the catcher. The other team member shall operate the launcher. Team members may swap positions between launches.
2. Only one person can operate the launcher at a time.
3. The ball shall be loaded into the launcher (two hands are allowed). Once loaded, the ball should not be touched again prior to launch.
4. At launch, one hand shall be placed on the cardboard base to secure the launcher. The person cannot hold onto any other part of the launcher in order to stabilize it or prevent it from moving.
5. To launch, one finger may be used to activate the laucher. his includes any action that exerts a force or stores energy. For example, pressing on one side of a lever, stretching a rubber band, or lifting a weight into the air can only be done with one finger. You cannot use your whole hand or fist to strike a lever. You cannot use multiple fingers to stretch the rubber band and then include a "trigger" mechanism that allows you to release it with just one finger.
6. To score, the ball must land in and stay in the catcher without touching the ground or anything else (a wall, a person, etc). The ball cannot roll or bounce into the catcher, nor bounce out of the catcher to be scored. If the catcher falls over but the ball remains inside, the launch will be scored.

Launch Rounds & Scoring
Teams will participate in two different rounds of competition with scores summed to become the final team score.

Round 1 - Team Created & Positioned Targets
1. Teams shall receive a maximum of 3 minutes to complete 5 launches into their own catching device.
2. Teams may move / reposition their catching device between launches.
3. Scoring in this round shall be the distance (in inches) between the launcher and the catcher multiplied by 2 for a successful catch.
4. For teams that complete multiple catches successfully, the maximum distance shall be utilized to compute the team's score in the round.

Round 2 - Tournament Created & Positioned Targets
1. Teams teams will receive a maximum of 2 minutes to complete 5 launches at two catchers that will be set by event organizers. The same set locations will be utilized for all teams and revealed at the start of the event.
2. Targets in this round may be of any size and shape. All other scoring rules (ball must land within and stay within target) apply.
3. Targets will be set at a distance of 5 feet to 15 feet from the launch area and may be aligned or spread horizontally (which would require the team to turn the launch to aim at each target).
4. Scoring in this round shall be the distance (in inches) between the launcher and the catcher for a successful catch. There is no multipler, the actual distance becomes the score.
5. For teams that complete multiple catches successfully, each successful catch will be scored.
6. Teams are not required to attempt to score in each target and may choose to aim only for one of the targets for all of its launches.

Scoring
1. The team's final score shall the sum of the scores from rounds 1 and 2.
2. Teams are ranked by highest score to lowest score. Ties are broken with the highest round 1 score.
3. Teams that participate but do not successfully catch a ball in either round will be ranked together behind all other scoring teams in a tie with all other non-scoring teams.

Online Examples
This event utilizes similar rules and materials as the contest shown in this video, however the scoring is slightly different. Please use this video and web site as a reference for design ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMcbAiTfx7A
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/ApMech_p052/mechanical-engineering/build-ball-launcher