Quote:
Originally Posted by jee7s
As BigJ notes, the rule says plywood or solid robust wood. And, in terms of the application, I think plywood is the preferable material. Unlike a board, the plywood doesn't have a continuous grain so it's less likely to split on impact. Oak is way too expensive a material to mandate team use. I'd be interested to know who got the interpretation that it needed to be a hard (like oak, mahogany, walnut, etc) wood. Save that stuff for your nice tables at home and use plywood or OSB on the robot. IMHO.
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This probably isn't the right place for discussing bumper materials, but I wanted to jump in because there are a variety of reasons to not use plywood-- chief being weight and material availability. While plywood is cheap and abundant, sponsors can come through in interesting ways, including donating a bunch of wood to a team. If you have free stuff it's probably more prudent for most teams to make use of that first. Also, if you are targeting full weight bumpers, heavier wood can help you get there without violating any rules
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