[hillale]

Our shooter is really rather simple, but it seems like every time I try and explain it without it available (and even sometimes with) as a visual aide it takes a while to get the idea through to people. It's pretty much a metal "plunger" (flat end on a section of square extruded aluminum) inside of a slightly larger shaft of aluminum, tensioned with surgical tubing, using a linkage setup connected to the center of a decent sized sprocket with a catch on it. The sprocket is powered by a fisher price motor through a dewalt tranny in 1st gear. The linkage is grabbed by a catch on the sprocket on its way by. When "loaded", the linkage is doubled back to about 1/2-1" before crossing center. When the fire button is pressed, the rollers spit out for a second, while the sprocket merely cranks the linkage past center, releasing the potential energy of the surgical tubing in the direction of the ball. Thus propelling it in an upward fashion towards the overpass. Please stop by our pits in Atlanta to see for yourselves. If you didn't grasp the idea from my attempted description. It's really quite simple and elegant. Can't wait to see everyone else's designs!