Shielding the Shooter

Rule S03 specifies that the shooter mechanism must be shielded. Now that FIRST has clarified that the shooter includes any barrel (if so equipped), I'm wondering how teams are thinking about shielding the shooter?

I'm assuming a piece of Lexan with a hole for the ball to exit, mounted right after the shooter...

[Andrew Blair]

Something like that. The intent of the rule is so you can't have an exposed flywheel that, even through extraordinary circumstances, cannot make contact with something and explode, or something else bad.

[Lil' Lavery]

I think a barrel would probably count as shielding in itself, but dont take only my word for it. As long as the actual mechanism that is providing kinetic energy to the ball (fly wheel, piston, etc) is shielded I think you'll be fine.
As to how to shield it, a polycarb/aluminum/wooden case would work, and so would a "rollcage" or something of that nature.

Be careful... I posted that specific question (whether a barrel following a shooter counts as part of the shooter mechanism that must be shielded) on the FIRST Q&A forum. The answer was yes. Prior to that answer, I would have also guessed that shielding the moving parts would have been sufficient.

With several other posts talking about turrets, I'm wondering how they would be shielded.

[psycho7]

I'm just wondering how people are going to make sliding shielding work, because I've looked at and to have a robust moving shield system is going to be rather comlex and heavy. Then again it's area that I haven't done a lot of work, so I may or may not be right

[Excelsior]

So, if you make a turret, in order to shield it, you basically have to put it in a box? Therefore forgoeing any tank resemblance a robot may end up with?

Drat it all.

Edit:

Also, with the shooting device needing to stay within the 28x38x60 area, does any shooter shielding also have to stay within that area?

[Kevin_547]

is there any way to do this or against the rule of going up to a bot shooting and blocking their shots as long as u stay in the size requirments.

[dhitchco]

Please post the link to any offical FIRST Q&A responses here. I could not find reference to the official response to shielding.

The more "shielding" that is put in place (e.g. covvering the barrel of some shooting mechanism) runs counter-intuitive to rule <G30> in extracting extra balls from your overly-shielded robot at the end of the match.

It also runs counter-intuitive to rule <S03> about keeping the "shooting mechanism" INSIDE the 28x38x60 envelope. it just seems to be adding more "bulk" to cover the entire "mechanism" including stationary parts like the barrel, etc.

Lastly, the need to "shield" the entire mechanism seems to run counter-intuitive to rule <G13> about needing to be able to "clearly see" all of the balls pre-stored on-board the robot.

[Jon K.]

Originally Posted by dhitchco

Please post the link to any offical FIRST Q&A responses here. I could not find reference to the official response to shielding.

The more "shielding" that is put in place (e.g. covvering the barrel of some shooting mechanism) runs counter-intuitive to rule <G30> in extracting extra balls from your overly-shielded robot at the end of the match.

It also runs counter-intuitive to rule <S03> about keeping the "shooting mechanism" INSIDE the 28x38x60 envelope. it just seems to be adding more "bulk" to cover the entire "mechanism" including stationary parts like the barrel, etc.

Lastly, the need to "shield" the entire mechanism seems to run counter-intuitive to rule <G13> about needing to be able to "clearly see" all of the balls pre-stored on-board the robot.

In terms of getting at the balls easy, make your shielding out of polycarb of some sort held on with like velcro or some other sort of quick disconnecting fastener. That will also allow for the quick sighting of balls stored. As for the rule about the shooting mechanism staying in the box, well thats just part of the design challenge.

[insub2]

<S03> Shooter Mechanism must remain inside the ROBOT - Any mechanism used to throw balls must be
contained within the original 28” x 38” x 60”starting envelope of the ROBOT and must be shielded such
that the mechanism cannot make contact with other ROBOTs. A ROBOT that violates this rule will be
considered unsafe per <S01>.

the sheilding is only neccessary to prevent contact with other robots.

also, is this the Q&A you posted???
Q:

Originally Posted by FRC663

Rule S03 states that the shooter mechanism must remain within the original starting envelope of the robot. If a robot uses a pitching machine style shooter, followed by a barrel to direct the ball, does the barrel count as part of the shooter mechanism? I assume the intent is to keep moving/dangerous parts out of the reach of other robots?

A:

Originally Posted by GDC

The barrel does count as part of the shooter mechanism and must remain within the original starting envelope.

if so, it doesn't say anything about sheilding your barrel. it just says that it has to stay inside the starting envelope. so as long as your barrel doens't come in contact with other robots, you don't need to put it in a box.

[chinckley]

I think I am confused about shielding. How can you shield a front loader that also might push balls back out and still collect balls? How do you shield the shooter but still allow shooting?

Wouldn't a ball collector low in front also allow someones corner of their robot to enter the collection area? I've seen pictures of robots with open areas low in front, where it looks like another robot could fit a corner into. Who gets the penalty then?

Also, since I see lots of teams using wheels to shoot out the ball could they cover the wheels and shooter with hardware cloth. Unless you use lexan, ordinary plastic could shatter if wheels got loose.

Just trying to understand SHIELDING.

Thanks
Carolyn