Greatest Robot Bumpers? [Archive]

TheBoulderite

10-05-2016, 11:05

I have a unique question for you all. What team has the greatest robot bumpers you have ever seen in any year? They can be competition worthy or just decorative.

My pick is 1339, AngelBotics, from this year. Their truffula bumpers really kept with their Dr. Seuss theme, and thanks to them I can now say I have pet a robot.

What are your picks?

Here is a picture of the robot with the bumpers.

Hallry

10-05-2016, 11:14

118's (http://i.imgur.com/SAHm7St.png) gold (http://i.imgur.com/wAoSVlR.jpg)-on (http://i.imgur.com/8GYrR7v.png)-white (http://i.imgur.com/yYjGMbu.jpg) bumpers (http://i.imgur.com/Ai7gzbh.jpg).

JohnFogarty

10-05-2016, 11:15

148's black on black bumpers

I'm partial to our bumpers, but that's because we can print them.
https://i.imgur.com/GhbpFxrh.jpg

If only we could get it to print a redder....red.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/dfb/dfbf872470c5d649a2e991977640f72f_l.jpg

djperry1009

10-05-2016, 11:20

I don't have a picture...but 4039's rainbow bumpers on their robot this year was the greatest thing I have ever seen

Kevin Leonard

10-05-2016, 11:24

I don't have a picture...but 4039's rainbow bumpers on their robot this year was the greatest thing I have ever seen

+1

4039 is probably my favorite team in FIRST, and we missed them in NY this year. :(

Mitchell1714

10-05-2016, 11:40

Air Strike (FRC 78) made nearly perfect bumpers for Ultimate Ascent.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/38665

pmangels17

10-05-2016, 11:45

Air Strike (FRC 78) made nearly perfect bumpers for Ultimate Ascent.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/38665

Nearly? That is the best set of competition bumpers I've ever seen.

Richard Wallace

10-05-2016, 11:55

I was inspired by 67's one-piece full-wrap bumpers in 2012.

http://www.thebluealliance.com/team/67/2012

Sperkowsky

10-05-2016, 12:27

My vote is going to have to go to team 708.

33's are always nice as well.

Mike Marandola

10-05-2016, 12:29

I would say 179's this year for competition bumpers and second Hallry on 118's gold on white bumpers.

rees2001

10-05-2016, 12:34

3476 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlyujQaTLlA) easiest bumpers to use ever.

The other Gabe

10-05-2016, 12:45

I can't remember the team number, but there was a team that used bumpers in 2015. they were in a district... either MAR or NE I think

I pick them!

NShep98

10-05-2016, 12:55

I can't remember the team number, but there was a team that used bumpers in 2015. they were in a district... either MAR or NE I think

I pick them!

I know 1735 Green Reapers used green bumpers in 2015.

Eric Scheuing

10-05-2016, 13:01

195 had a pretty slick set of bumpers (https://i.imgur.com/vX81BQph.jpg) this year.

Mark Sheridan

10-05-2016, 13:22

3476 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlyujQaTLlA) easiest bumpers to use ever.

We could not even do this for 2016 because the sail cloth was too stiff. We really tried to get it to work. 3309 tested it too and it came out looking like gym shorts.

Shifter

10-05-2016, 13:33

I don't have a picture...but 4039's rainbow bumpers on their robot this year was the greatest thing I have ever seen

thanks for the mention

CalTran

10-05-2016, 13:39

2056 always has clean, crisp bumpers. IMHO they look better in blue than red. IIRC, they get the numbers screen printed directly onto the fabric.

frcguy

10-05-2016, 14:09

https://media.team254.com/2016/03/86bb0776-2016.jpg

254 has my vote. Every year their bumpers look phenomenal, especially in blue. Although it doesn't look like they did it this year, I love the embroidered numbers from previous years.

Josh Goodman

10-05-2016, 14:15

CTbiker105

10-05-2016, 14:46

195 had a pretty slick set of bumpers (https://i.imgur.com/vX81BQph.jpg) this year.

Thanks Eric! We did our best to make Knight Fury look as great as possible on the field this season.

The other Gabe

10-05-2016, 14:59

I know 1735 Green Reapers used green bumpers in 2015.

there they are! thanks

also, 4039's rainbow bumpers are absolutely gorgeous

AndrewPospeshil

10-05-2016, 15:46

3476 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlyujQaTLlA) easiest bumpers to use ever.

Surgical tubing bumpers are probably faster in my humble, totally unbiased opinion. Ours pull down from the top for blue (or bottom up for red) and take a second or two to switch the entire robot. They do suffer on one side, however, as there can be an awkward fold (https://flic.kr/p/FtHPmU) on your numbers. We took pictures almost exclusively in blue this year because it was difficult to read our number in red.

I don't know if I could necessarily pick a favorite set of bumpers (although I'm tempted to single out the gorgeous 148 black-on-blacks) but my favorites all follow the same trend. They all are very consistent with the team's branding; you can tell immediately what team they belong to without the actual number. 254, 1114, 33 and 118 are just a few that stand out to me (118 with the added bonus of having some gorgeous custom white/golds)

TheBoulderite

10-05-2016, 16:12

Can't compare at all with some of the slick bumpers in this thread. But it definitely makes me miss our red camo bumpers. Many a imagery awards were won thanks to those bumpers!

http://media.penfieldrobotics.com/2007-2008-FIRST-Robotics/2008-Competitions/2008-Atlanta-Championships/i-bnvN6x9/1/X2/P4190182-X2.jpg

That's awesome. They remind me of the pair of denim bumpers we made this year. We only used them at our HQ, but they didn't last long. :D

jajabinx124

10-05-2016, 16:25

I've always liked 3130's (https://i.imgur.com/umoa5PQh.jpg) bumpers.

Thayer McCollum

11-05-2016, 15:37

1339's fuzzy bumpers were awesome.

Connor McBride

11-05-2016, 18:18

610 has nice bumpers. What I really love about them is the font that they use for the numbers.

-Connor

hotwheel326

11-05-2016, 18:55

I prefer 1986's italicized font on their bumpers. Makes them look sleek and simple.

evanperryg

11-05-2016, 23:30

We told the rookie team we are mentoring "all good teams have good bumpers." They made these. (https://i.imgur.com/OU1MF9Zh.jpg) I was impressed, to say the least.

logank013

12-05-2016, 07:49

Team 1114 proudly presents our 2016 robot, Simbot Sentinel

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdEAU0XWIAEvTVV.jpg:medium

Thanks to all of our sponsors for their generous support, especially Innovation First International, General Motors of Canada, Gridpath Solutions, Juice Matters, Industrial Encoder Corporation, and The District School Board of Niagara.

Also, thanks to FIRST Robotics Canada for providing all Ontario teams a fabulous set of regionals. Simbot Sentinel will be competing at GTR East, Waterloo, and the final single FIRST Championship event.

It's all about that bumper quality.
(Both quotes from the same thread)

1114 had great bumpers on their reveal picture.

Ernst

12-05-2016, 10:23

(Both quotes from the same thread)

1114 had great bumpers on their reveal picture.

Those are overwhelmingly crispy.

Did 254 and 1114 use sailcloth this year? We used the Andymark slick bumper material. It's garbage. It's about the same quality as those $1 disposable tableclothes, and I think that by the end of the year we had more duct tape than bumper fabric.

Torrance

12-05-2016, 10:42

engunneer

12-05-2016, 11:59

Team 23's bumpers in 2012 were made out of classic car seat upholstery, done by a professional car restorer as a donation to the team, IIRC.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/1c5/1c52980595b4216ff8bc2fb2c53105fe_m.jpg

evanperryg

12-05-2016, 13:10

Those are overwhelmingly crispy.

Did 254 and 1114 use sailcloth this year? We used the Andymark slick bumper material. It's garbage. It's about the same quality as those $1 disposable tableclothes, and I think that by the end of the year we had more duct tape than bumper fabric.

At first, I thought the picture in 1114's reveal was a render, it's all too crispy to be real. I'll second the comment about AM slick fabric. We didn't have too many tears, but having any tears at all was new for us. It was so thin that it was basically impossible to stretch it so that there weren't little creases all over the place. On top of that, it was ever so slightly translucent, so you could see where on the ends of the bumpers the fabric was folded in. They weren't terrible, but there's absolutely no chance that you could ever make it look as nice as some of the bumpers shown here.

lynca

12-05-2016, 13:11

118's (http://i.imgur.com/SAHm7St.png) gold (http://i.imgur.com/wAoSVlR.jpg)-on (http://i.imgur.com/8GYrR7v.png)-white (http://i.imgur.com/yYjGMbu.jpg) bumpers (http://i.imgur.com/Ai7gzbh.jpg).

The stitch work on their bumpers is really impressive !

TravusCubington

12-05-2016, 13:26

#bestcoastproduce

http://i.imgur.com/ISjdk1O.jpg

joeweber

14-05-2016, 09:04

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145290

Normal bumpers but we loved our bumper handles for 2016 season. they made it so easy to move our robot on and off the field. Inspectors loved them.

Munchskull

15-05-2016, 14:14

You can tell a robots quality based on the bumpers.

ratdude747

15-05-2016, 14:28

In 2008 Wild Stang had some slick looking tie-die bumpers:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/img/d60/d60cf27037a2ddf14aa7a7a4d97063d3_m.jpg

That said, I concur with others that 118's vanity bumpers are the best I've seen.

Jcarbon

15-05-2016, 17:02

You can tell a robots quality based on the bumpers.

We actually tested this idea at our first district this year. We rated all the bumpers when we pit scouted, then later compared the data to our pick list. To our surprise, there was hardly any correlation at all. So you can't judge a robot by its bumpers after all...

The other Gabe

15-05-2016, 18:01

We actually tested this idea at our first district this year. We rated all the bumpers when we pit scouted, then later compared the data to our pick list. To our surprise, there was hardly any correlation at all. So you can't judge a robot by its bumpers after all...

to me, bumper quality shows that a team cares about its robot - it's the same way that a man in a good suit presents better than a guy in ratty jeans and a T-shirt at an interview. There's a higher chance that their work will be reliable and of quality, even if they perform at a lower level

Sperkowsky

15-05-2016, 18:03

to me, bumper quality shows that a team cares about its robot - it's the same way that a man in a good suit presents better than a guy in ratty jeans and a T-shirt at an interview. There's a higher chance that their work will be reliable and of quality, even if they perform at a lower level
Or that they spent too much time on aesthetics and not enough time iterating a design.

Gregor

15-05-2016, 18:13

Or that they spent too much time on aesthetics and not enough time iterating a design.

True (http://media.team254.com/2014/02/951707c4-2014-02-18-247x300.jpg)

Sperkowsky

15-05-2016, 18:24

True (http://media.team254.com/2014/02/951707c4-2014-02-18-247x300.jpg)

Good example!

Pauline Tasci

15-05-2016, 18:44

Code Orange used sailcloth for the first time this year, we think it gave us a great advantage to scoot around other teams.
Our only problem is one that Torrance had mentioned previously, that the bumpers did get rather beat up after continuous use throughout competition season.
Well worth it in the end though and an easy cloth to find at any sports store.