Overengineered Bumper noodles

[Phildirt]

One of our sponsors has ALOT of 2-3/4" diameter noodles. Using a hot wire cutter the kids are shaping them to meet 2-1/2"

www.jonesvillerobotics.com

Thoughts?

[Whippet]

I would take a closely at R21C, which states that bumpers must:
use a stacked pair of approximately 2 1⁄2 in. round, petal, or hex “pool noodles” (solid or hollow) as the BUMPER cushion material (see Figure 4-7). All pool noodles used on a ROBOT must be the same diameter, cross-section, and density (e.g. all round hollow or all hex solid). Cushion material may extend up to 2 1⁄2 in. beyond the end of the plywood (see Figure
4-8). To assist in applying the fabric covering, soft fasteners may be used to attach the pool noodles to the wood backing, so long as the cross section in Figure 4-7 is not significantly altered (e.g. tape compressing the pool noodles)

I do not believe that noodles cut in this way will meet the requirement.

[marshall]

One of our sponsors has ALOT of 2-3/4" diameter noodles. Using a hot wire cutter the kids are shaping them to meet 2-1/2"

www.jonesvillerobotics.com

Thoughts?

Alot of noodles. (http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html)

As opposed to a lot of noodles...

[GeeTwo]

There's no requirement that the pool noodles be strictly COTS items. As long as your bumpers are consistent around the perimeter and fit the profile, I doubt that you'd be flunked for this - especially if the noodles are already inside of the fabric. That said, if you use them, you should have a plan B that you can implement on Thursday.