"I'm also unclear on what you mean by using "deer net" as a defense... if you mean using it as a material to prevent objects from intruding upon your robot's inner mechanisms, I'd suggest you consider coroplast (or tenplast), a corrugated plastic available in 4'x8' sheets as an alternative. 1/16" polycarbonate also works well. Even 1/8" doorskin plywood will work fine... but you would have to be careful with netting to ensure it doesn't entangle other robots."
Deer net is used to keep deer out of your garden. It is very thin, and would not block vision. Think over sized flyswatter to block shots. Would it be our fault if a bot stuck its arm in our flyswatter? I do not intend for it to be long or droopy, just tight enough to block shots.