[Al Skierkiewicz]

Tristan,
Your link to Dave's comment was a rehash of the actual testing.
To remind everyone why we have these rules. Prior to bumpers (yes there was such a time), robot frame damage that was severe enough to knock a robot out of competition occurred regularly. This fact was enough to make people at the top (Woody and Dean) cringe and look for a better solution. Dave's test and the current bumper rules are a direct result of that. Woody saw that the bumpers reduced damage to robots and that was good enough for him. I worked two double regionals and three single regionals plus the Champs this year. I witnessed bumper damage at every event. Rarely was the result simply a bumper being ripped off or dragging on the field. Rules being what they were, in some cases the robots were disabled.

If you have ever seen a student's face after their robot has been rendered useless, you know why I support the bumper rules. I am not interested in merely satisfying a rule, I want the students to drive in as many matches as they possibly can and good bumpers help them do that. Ike said it pretty well above. If you spent so much time building what you think is the best robot you can build, why would you sacrifice your creation by mounting a substandard or ugly bumper on it? Make it look pretty, make it functional and robust and don't let it fall off.