Gas Shocks not allowed?

[WarehouseCrew]

Thanks for the feed back. We planned on using gas shocks in a climbing mechanism. The shocks would be compressed at the start of the match and driver would press a button that releases a latch that allows the gas shock to extend and push a lever or cable to pull the robot up the tower. Once button is pushed, motion of the gas shock would only stop at the end of extension.

[Cal578]

Originally Posted by WarehouseCrew

...Once button is pushed, motion of the gas shock would only stop at the end of extension.

You may need to convince the inspectors that this is safe. Which starts by designing the mechanism such that you believe it truly is safe.

[FrankJ]

Do realize this is exactly the same if you have an energized valve on an pneumatic cylinder. When denergized at the end of the match, the cylinder will move to its off state.

[WarehouseCrew]

Would it be consider safe if the gas shocks were in a relaxed/extended position (eg. no stored energy) at the start of the match and during match play they were compressed?

[FrankJ]

The shocks could start the match in either extend or retracted position. Just like a spring. Safe or not is a different discussion & is dependent on the design.

[Joe Ross]

In 2010, team 67 had a rube-goldberg hanging mechanism that was powered off of several gas springs. Rule S01 in 2010 was very similar to S03 this year, but 67 went on to win the championship.

<S01> Safe Operation and Design - If at any time a ROBOT'S operation or design is deemed unsafe, the ROBOT will be disabled for the remainder of the MATCH. If the safety violation is due to the ROBOT design, the Head Referee has the option to not allow the ROBOT back onto the FIELD until the design has been corrected. An example of unsafe operation would be uncontrolled motion that cannot be stopped by the DRIVERS. Violation: PENALTY and Disablement.

[Cal578]

If the shocks are compressed after starting the match, perhaps that means the user has more control over them, which would make it easier to make it safe (and to show the inspectors that it is safe).

[protoserge]

As others have stated, they are just "robot parts". We've used them before as well.

If it is in a collapsed state (stored energy), I'd recommend using a gate latch or other locking mechanism with a safety pin and big REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT safety banner that you take off on the field.