[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by Nick R.

i dont think they would allow us to jump ONLY 1.5 feet if the bar is about 10 feet high and there is a restriction on the hight (60 inch) as usual..
i think we're going to try and go about it with a spring..

Nick,

I would imagine that this would (and should) be disqualified. The spring may be dangerous (in the view of the inspectors) if it goes off in your face...

I do not think that they want projectiles. Period.

However, they are allowing a "small" projectile that would not cause great concern to spectators, players or referees...

As a member of a team who, in 1994, made a catapult capable of launching a 7 pound ball 30-40 feet, I can testify to the incredible power which could be stored and then released by these robots.

That particular robot was a crowd pleaser but it scared the heck out of me (and the officials). The spring mechanism was made from the 10 feet of latex tubing in the kit and the bands broke under tension (a lot). Not to mention that sometimes the match would end before we fired (but the mechanism was armed) and the field team had to remove the robot and hope that it did not go off in their face.

Any engineer who can't design a "safe" thin arm to deliver a cable (attached to a winch) to the bar needs to go back to school.

Let's all stop being lawyers... When we design these systems ask " would I want my Mom (or daughter) standing next to this thing when it goes off?".

[/end soapbox]