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Unread 22-01-2011, 23:45
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Nathan Streeter Nathan Streeter is offline
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FRC #1519 (Mechanical MAYHEM)
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Rookie Year: 2006
Location: Merrimack, NH
Posts: 676
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Re: Are extensions with bumpers after the start of the game legal

The bumper rules are certainly extensive! Most of the bumper construction is set out in the rules... There is also a required "bumper zone" so that all teams have their bumper at the same level, making tall bumpers less necessary. The bumper zone is 1"-7" from the ground... so the bumpers (which have to be 5" tall) have 1" of leeway. It's hard to tell, but using the 8" wheels as a reference, I'd estimate your bumpers may be too high for the bumper zone... maybe the plywood is just the wrong height though?

Yes, the wood should only be directly backed by metal - if the sides of your robot are 27" and 37", the wood should be a 3/4" thick piece of plywood with dimensions of 5" tall and either 27" or 37" in length. It's also required to protect the corners, a good way of doing this is putting a 5" long piece of pool noodle inside the fabric of the bumpers at the corners. We normally put this vertical 5" long noodle on the ends of the 27" long segments, but it doesn't matter where they go. :-)

I'm certainly impressed with the time/energy and CAD going into this from a rookie team... I really wish we competed at the same regional - maybe championships! ;-)
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Student: 2006-2010 (#1519)
Mentor: 2011-Present (#1519)



Last edited by Nathan Streeter : 22-01-2011 at 23:51. Reason: Adding some to the post...