ACTION STATIONS - Dino the DinoBot is preparing to dress for the ball - paintball. She's not just an ugly duckling and does not mind taking a few splatters in the name of sport.

Once you have (built) your giant robot, you might as well arm the DinoBot with something to test out your tactical combat skills. Games can be played on indoor (warehouses) or outdoor fields of varying sizes. A game field is scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for tactical cover. Game types in paintball vary, but can include capture the flag, elimination, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours, or even days in scenario play.

The legality of paintball varies among countries and regions. In most areas where regulated play is offered, players are required to wear protective masks, and game rules are strictly enforced.

A PAINTBALL KIT - The Spyder EMR™5 features the new "Advance" electronic trigger frame with the LEAP 3™ circuit board and color access mode display (SAFE, SEMI, 3 Burst, 6 Burst, Full Auto and low battery indicator). The EMR™5 comes stock with a 9-round magazine capable of shooting .68 caliber paintballs and the new First Strike™ paintball from Tiberius Arms. The First Strike™ paintball offers 2x more range and 25x more accuracy; claims made by Tiberius Arms. This innovative "DLS" Dual Loading System utilizes a unique patent pending system that enables you to interchange your loading system with a quick turn of the barrel allowing the user to switch between a traditional upper load feed system and lower magazine feed system during play.

RULE VARIATIONS

Paintball is played with a potentially limitless variety of rules and variations, which are specified before the game begins. The most basic game rule is that players must attempt to accomplish a goal without being shot and marked with a paintball. A variety of different rules govern the legality of a hit, ranging from "anything counts" (hits cause elimination whether the paintball broke and left a mark or not) to the most common variation: the paintball must break and leave a mark the size of a US quarter or larger. Eliminated players are expected to leave the field of play; eliminations may also earn the opposing team points. Depending on the agreed upon game rules, the player may return to the field and continue playing, or is eliminated from the game completely.

The particular goal of the game is determined before play begins; examples include capture the flag or Elimination. Paintball has spawned popular variants, including woodsball, which is played in the natural environment and spans across a large area. Conversely, the variant of speedball is played on a smaller field and has a very fast pace with games as brief as two minutes fifteen seconds in the (NSL) or lasting up to twenty minutes in the PSP. Another variant is scenario paintball, in which players attempt to recreate historical, or fictional settings; the largest being Oklahoma D-Day's World War II re-enactment.

WARNING - Before building your own laser, please read up on how dangerous they can be. You can be blinded if you do not work safely. Never look into a laser beam. Do not shine a laser at any moving vehicle. Do not use a laser to play with pets. This information is posted here as an educational resource. If under 18, make sure your parents know what you are attempting.

TASERS - No where near as much fun as paintball, the X26 the model commonly used by police departments delivers a peak voltage of 1200 V to the body. They use barbs to establish a circuit, fired from the gun by compressed gas. The gun generates a series of 100-microsecond pulses at a rate of 19 per second. Each pulse carries 100 microcoulombs of charge, so the average current is 1.9 milliamperes, too force the muscles to contract without risking electrocution - so they say! Stun guns generate a high-voltage, low-amperage electrical charge. You may remember an experiment like this in school where you joined hands to complete a circuit.

PAINTBALL - is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water-soluble dye and featuring a gelatin outer shell (referred to as paintballs) propelled from a device called a paintball marker (commonly referred to as a paintball gun). Paintballs are composed of a non-toxic, biodegradable, water-soluble polymer. The game is regularly played at a sporting level with organized competition involving major tournaments, professional teams, and players.

WARNING - Before experimenting with your own paintball equipment, follow the guidelines for human paintball competitions. Even where you may not be in the battlefield in person, but in control of a combat drone, you should still wear a mask - just in case a trigger-happy robot mistakes you for another DinoBot - if you have strayed, for example.

ROBOTS v HUMANS - If might seem a little unfair on the DinoBots to begin with, but as technology develops, there will be role reversal, with the robots have faster reaction times and far better visibility - in theory.

To keep the sport alive and well, the onus is on all competitors to play safe. We do not want accidents, we want a sporting, learning experience. We do not want legislators to point to the odd careless incident and be able to put draconian restrictions on the responsible gamers. So, please, if you do decide to have a bash in the quest to develop peacekeeping robots, always play it safe.

GELATIN v LEAD - The rate of injury to paintball participants has been estimated as 45 injuries per 100,000 participants per year. Research published by the Minnesota Paintball Association has argued that paintball is one of the statistically safest sports to participate in, with 20 injuries per 100,000 players annually, and these injuries tend to be incidental to outdoor physical activity (e.g. trip-and-fall). A 2003 study of the 24 patients with modern sports eye injuries presenting to the eye emergency department of Porto S João Hospital between April 1992 and March 2002 included five paintball eye injuries. Furthermore, a one-year study undertaken by the Eye Emergency Department, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston has shown that most sports eye injuries are caused by basketball, baseball, hockey, and racquetball. Another analysis concluded that eye injuries incurred from paintball were in settings where protective equipment such as masks were not enforced, or were removed by the player. Eye injuries can occur when protective equipment is not properly used and such injuries often cause devastating visual loss. For safety, most regulated paintball fields strictly enforce a 'masks-on' policy, and most eject players who consistently disobey.

Regardless, paintball has received criticism due to incidents of injury. In Canada in 2007, an eleven-year-old boy lifted his mask and was shot point blank in the eye by an adult playing on the same field, leading to calls by the Montreal Children's Hospital to restrict the minimum age of paintball participants to 16 years. In Australia, the sport attracted criticism when a 39-year-old man playing at a registered field in Victoria died of a suspected heart attack, after being struck in the chest.

Additionally, the use of paintball markers outside a regulated environment has caused concern. In the United States in 1998, 14-year-old Jorel Lynn Travis was shot with a paintball gun while standing outside a Fort Collins, Colorado ice cream parlor – blinding her in one eye. In 2001, a series of pre-meditated and racially motivated drive-by shootings targeted Alaska Natives in Anchorage, Alaska, using a paintball marker. In Ottawa, Canada in 2007, Ashley Roos was shot in the eye and blinded with a paintball gun while waiting for a bus. However, in 2014 in the UK, one company advertised and hired a Human Bullet Tester.

THE LAW - UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom Paintball Sport Federation (UKPSF) is the UK's independent, non profit, governing body for paintball. They are an independent organisation which ensure the safety and quality of paintball venues and events in the UK. UKPSF accreditation ensures the venue meets the basic health and safety criteria of the UKPSF and has full public liability insurance. In 2014, the UKPSF hoped to send an application to the UK Sports council to make paintball a recognised sport in the UK. The United Kingdom Paintball Association (UKPBA) a non-profit making body dedicated to the promotion and protection of the sport of paintball in the UK. The UKPBA was established in 1989, and considers itself to have a fair claim to be considered the governing body of paintball in the UK.

Laws pertaining to paintball markers in the United Kingdom classify them as a type of air weapon, although some could be considered to be "imitation firearms." Owners do not require a license unless the marker fires above 90 m/s (300 ft/s). Only approved paintballs can be used, and the marker must not be fully automatic. The minimum age to be in possession of a marker is seventeen, except in target shooting clubs or galleries, or on private property so long as projectiles are not fired beyond the premises. It is prohibited to be in possession of a paintball marker in public places. The minimum legal age for a commercial venue is 10, although facilities exist with lower-powered guns for children of a younger age.

UK CONTACTS

UKPBA
Unit 1 Alton House
121 North Hill
Plymouth, PL4 8JY

Phone: 0870 850 1728
Email: secretary@ukpba.org.uk

UKPSF
36 George Street
Weston Super Mare
North Somerset
BS23 3AS

Tel: 0300 302 1616

THE LAW - UNITED STATES

In the United States, eight states define explicit legislation for paintball guns. In Pennsylvania, paintball markers have transport requirements, cannot be used against anyone not participating in a paintball activity, and cannot be used for property damage. New Hampshire and Rhode Island require players be at least eighteen years of age to own a marker, with students in New Hampshire faced with the possibility of expulsion from school for possessing a marker. In Illinois, owners must be over the age of twelve and can only use their markers in private land or on safely constructed target ranges.

Virginia is one of two states that permit its towns to adopt ordinances on paintball guns, allowing its local authorities to do so. Delaware on the other hand only authorizes Wilmington to do so, but does allow paintball to be played on farms as it is considered an agri-tourism activity. Florida and Texas limit government liability if a government entity allows paintball on its property.

In virtually all jurisdictions, the use of a paintball marker in a manner other than its intended purpose and/or outside the confines of a sanctioned game or field can result in criminal charges such as disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, vandalism, criminal mischief or even aggravated assault.

USEFUL PAINTBALL LINKS

TALON - It's pretty much a gun on some wheels. That above robot is called the Talon and is actually in use by the American army. Though it's more like a Dalek than a T-1000, it's still pretty intimidating to the enemy to be faced with an uncaring robot enemy that won't even take the time to flinch or look grim as it fires in your direction.

Unsurprisingly the idea of robot involvement in war is already garnering opposition from groups such as the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC), founded by academics in the forefront of robotics, who know what machines are capable of. They argue that "machines should not be delegated with the decision to kill or use violent force".  We could not agree with that more. There must be a number of humans (Generals and Soldiers) in the command room who are directing any confrontation and giving the orders - not to kill, but to control a situation. The Geneva Convention is clear on this.

GENEVA CONVENTION CONSIDERATIONS - Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (USA = AP I) provides that in the study, development, acquisition or adoption of a new weapon, means or method of warfare, a High Contracting Party is under an obligation to determine whether its employment would, in some or all circumstances, be prohibited by this Protocol or by any other rule of international law applicable to the High Contracting Party.

This imposes a duty on governments to ensure that the applicable rules are complied with. The duty does not apply to us, nevertheless we aim to incorporate failsafe algorithms and other safety features as part of our project development by way of easing the burden on navies considering ways of improving peacekeeping while also reducing the burden to the taxpayer, hence National Debt.

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