Air Defense System
 

Hi everyone,

My team was brainstorming ideas for our robot's role in the game, and one thing we thought of was a defensive robot that used an air cannon or fan to knock balls off their trajectory.

This seems like a logical thing to do, since when you're playing defense you will be shorter than the opponent that is scoring.

I could not find anything in the rules that would outlaw this besides
G13, which says that "Basketballs may not be intentionally placed out of bounds," and under
Robot 4.1.8 Motors and Actuators which states that "The only motors and actuators permitted on 2012 FRC Robots include: (K.) drive motors or fans that are part of a speed controller or COTS computing device."

Although, R71 says that "For the purposes of the FRC, the following devices are not considered pneumatic devices and are not subject to pneumatic rules (though they must satisfy all other rules): a device that creates a vacuum,...", so we could potentially use a vacuum to achieve the same purpose.

So, would this be an illegal tactic? Is it within the spirit of the game?

Thanks!

Re: Air Defense System
 

We are thinking the same thing. the kids looked up quite a few different focused air blast technologies last night.

Re: Air Defense System
 

as a joke what about attaching a big piece of plywood onto your robot so that you can block shots.

Re: Air Defense System
 

This could make for some boring matches...

Re: Air Defense System
 

We joked about this idea, and playing the "Fus Roh Dah!" clip from Skyrim every time it fires.

Re: Air Defense System
 

Not necessarily, it could be the last shot of a Red 102 - Blue 103 game, Red is attempting a shot, and its up to the Blue Air Defense bot to save the team!

It'd be ironic if it assisted the shot into the top basket, and tragic.

Re: Air Defense System
 

I giggled at this one. But what our team was thinking about is a big deployable net, much like a ship's sail, to interfere, which would also collect balls for us to shoot, in addition to our other collection system.

Re: Air Defense System
 

It would be Team 20 pioneering this idea :P

I have my doubts of how effective it would be in an actual match, as the same strategy was brought up in 2006, but it never came to fruition for any team because it just isn't a practical blocker. But try it out, let us know how (if at all) it works.

Re: Air Defense System
 

Are there any videos of teams attempting this from 06?

Re: Air Defense System
 

G20 says you can't be above 60" when defending, so this strategy might not be so useful for blocking anything above the bottom goal.

Re: Air Defense System
 

which is exactly why we decided on the air defense method, we just need to know if it is illegal or not in the spirit

Re: Air Defense System
 

I agree, the pneumatics can only shoot at 60 psi and considering the weight of the ball, that may not be enough

Re: Air Defense System
 

I cannot see this being ruled as illegal or not in the spirit of FIRST.
What i CAN see is this not working, at all. Please, prove me wrong, i'd love to see a robot like this on the field. :)

Re: Air Defense System
 

What would you use to generate an updraft?

Re: Air Defense System
 

So you need to have enough air to deflect a ball that is at least three feet above you and moving. Gonna be a heck of a fan.