<S03> What is the definition of shielded

[sburro]

<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>.

OK I designed the shooter and am wondering if fabric material went around the outside like a curtain (but attached on all sides) would this qualify as shielded? Or are they looking for something a little more ridged.

I know that this is CD and not the FIRST Q&A rule makers, I would just like to see what you people think.

[Andrew Blair]

Used to throw balls, therefore, a device possessing at some point kinetic energy of it's own, or, in other words, moving. So, a flywheel, arm, lever, piston, belt, etc, must be shielded so that, with the exception of jamming something down the muzzle, there can be no way that the thrower can be influenced by anything.

The idea is prevent exploding flywheels, belts, arms, etc., during the match. Or arms, outside the match.

[sciencenerd]

If I can't poke it with a baseball bat, it's shielded. Try to make sure some other robot can't jam their arm into yours and break your flywheel, or if you have a catapult or something like that, make sure it can't hit anything nearby that may be intruding into your robot's space a little bit. If you do all that, it should be shielded.

(Note: this is all my opinion, and I have no official rules or anything of that sort to back it up.)

[KenWittlief]

dont forget humans. It can be pretty noisy in the pits and on the playfield. If someone reached into your bot and a big wheel (with belts or chains) was still spinning, would they be able to get their hand or fingers into a moving part?

This normally isnt a problem with drivetrains (because parts dont keep spinning when the bot is not moving) and the pneumatics can be vented with the mandantory release valve.

It can be hard to tell if something is spinning - one of the most common accidents on cars is people sticking their hand into the spinning fan or fanbelt on a running car engine.