Bumper Rule
 

Do the bumpers have to surround the frame/base of the robot completly, or can there be a gap? My team has looked at the rules, and everyone interprets it slightly differently. Anyone know??

Re: Bumper Rule
 

It has to cover 2/3, so you can have one side un-bumpered.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

this is a good question as we were wondering the same thing.
perhaps others can provide more insight.
Where is the 2/3 rule?

thanks

Re: Bumper Rule
 

There was another thread on it that actually called out the exact rule, I'm going to bed pretty soon here so I won't look it up but I do remember reading it earlier today.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

there u go!

Re: Bumper Rule
 

why so early? its only 9:15pm....

















Hawaii time.:D :D

Re: Bumper Rule
 

Because I'm in California. =p

Re: Bumper Rule
 

So basically, to be safe, 3 sides of your robot... assuming its a rectangular robot. :rolleyes:

Re: Bumper Rule
 

Another question and answer on bumpers just for clarification.

Rules say that bumpers need to 2 1/2 inches from floor and 5" tall. What if I do not want a chassis that is 7 1/2" tall from the chassis? I'm assuming that I can have the bumpers above the chassis walls/sides if I want. Is this correct?

I may have to go to Q&A on FIRST.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

That would be correct. As long as the bumpers are in the bumper-zone space, you can put your chassis and effectors wherever you please.
I think the reasoning behind the super-defined bumper zone is to keep all contact at the same level and create a "safe zone" for the more fragile components such as manipulators.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

This was the general rule last year. As long as you have 3 sides covered, you wont have any issues with the judges.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

There was no rule in place last year requiring teams to have bumpers.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

To answer your original question - yes, there can be gaps as long as you cover 2/3 of the perimeter, and no bumper segment can be less than 6" long.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

With a give maximum sized robot of 38" x 28" giving us:
((38*2) + (28*2)) = 132" perimeter

2/3 of 132" = 88"

Technically I guess you can only cover 88" worth of sides if you wanted to.

Some people tend to cover just 3 sides of their robots so using the 2 most basic configurations of robot design...

1) 38+38+28 = 104" of Bumper (38" Sides & 28" Rear)

or

2) 28+28+38 = 94" of Bumper (28" Sides & 38" Rear)

In configuration 1, you are good.

In configuration 2, you are good as well.

Re: Bumper Rule
 

Specifically, the rule states that a STANDARD bumper as defined in Fig. 8-1 must be no shorter than 6 inches. Since they also do not want "hard" bumpers in the corners, you must place a vertical pool noodle to soften the corners of the side or front bumpers such that it covers the corner.

The extra vertical pool noodle that isn't part of the STANDARD bumper cannot count toward the minimum 6 inches. Though it is unfortunate, this is the only interpretation of this rule I can come up with.