[Al Skierkiewicz]

Frank,
Yes, several times, as evidenced by splinters on the field. I saw somewhere between 10 and 20 bumper systems sheared off the robot this year. Some of the damage was surprising as threaded fasteners were pulled through the plywood, wood screws were stripped out, and mounting brackets broken. In at least one case there was subsequent robot contact on the unprotected portion of the robot that damaged the frame.
The crash tests were reported to LRIs and have been the topic of discussion with LRIs for several years. We continue to discuss this with new LRI trainees. Anyone can duplicate the test with a section of plywood, some pool noodles and a support that has variable width. What I would call "blunt trauma" would repeatedly cause cracking or complete failure of the plywood when supported at the ten inch interval. "Blunt trauma" would be a robot corner or other geometric protrusion, coming into contact with the bumper assembly. As I remember, Dave's tests were run with a stationary object and with a full robot with variable spacers behind the bumper. The test was run on their practice field.
Andrew, there was no way to run an event without this occurring. Any drive team will tell you that they were standing on rippled carpet by the third day of competition. Most events tried to make adjustments each day. It required peeling the driver's stations away from the carpet and then pushing the stations back into position and then reseating to the carpet. Of course this varied with location as some regionals are way more aggressive than others.