Just out of interest has anyone seen the build rules for Battlebots? Clicky Section seven makes for an interesting read.

I haven't been to battle bots, although we did get our current design pre-approved many years ago (via design drawings, thickness calcs and the like). Their rules are much stricter than the current FRA rules, especially concerning custom components. Not trying to be sarcastic or pick a fight but their rules didn't seem to have limited innovation etc in any way. Granted I think HPA is/was used in preference to CO2 though but the principal is the same.

Anybody with a lathe can make a ram or buffer tank etc, and there lies the problem. I don't really know of any other way of arriving at a suitable wall thickness from a pressure point of view other than by some form of design calculations, be it calculated by software or done by hand - and I am not pointing fingers here.

In terms of enforcement of the rules, thats going to be a tricky one. If calcs & design verification were to be required for custom components then the person reviewing them will need suitable knowledge to make a valid decision - and that could be a rather steep learning curve for somebody. If left as is and checks are not carried out etc, eventually someone will push the boundaries to the absolute limit and something may well go pop, this could happen in the arena or while arming up, or at home. Or it may never happen - and I hope that this is the case.