[apalrd]

After asking Q&A, think about what the intent of the rule is. The intent is to not bury the PD board so you can see the lights and read the breaker values on it. As long as you can see it without sticking your head in the robot, you should be fine. In 2009, ours was about 1' under a roller/conveyor, buried in 6" of folded sheet metal, meaning it was not easily visible from a few feet away but visible from a foot or so, enough to read the values on breakers and see the lights. A past robot (2006) had no place for the controller, and the rules dictated that the lights had to be visible. It was mounted on perforated aluminum hanging under the rotating ball sorter, of which the bottom was made out of polycarb and had an open top. You could see the lights if you looked directly over it with no balls in the sorter, and it passed. If you had to modify the wiring you probably would have had to remove the ball sorter.

Remember, my opinion dosen't count. Only that of the GDC does, ask them.