[Karthik]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

John and Rich,
It is my understanding, that bumpers, if used, are part of the robot, just like an arm, a pickup device or the control system. That means that the bumpers are not considered separate of the ROBOT and all rules apply. As such, the bumpers need to be mounted on the robot for weight and size. I suppose you can (for this year only) have bumpers on moveable parts that retract the bumpers into the robot for determining the TRANSPORT CONFIGURATION. Just as in the past, if you have multiple devices that can be used on your robot, all mechanisms must be weighed together, and the overall size will need to be determined for each configuration under R4. The change in the bumper rules applies to this season. There is no telling what next season will bring.

Originally Posted by notmattlythgoe

Al,

R3 allows for minor disassembly to be made to get the robot into its transportation configuration. This would allow them to take the bumpers off and place them somewhere on the robot inside the size constraints. Then when they get on the field they would be allowed to reattach them prior to the match.

I'm very confused here. On one hand we have the game manual saying that we're allowed to perform minor disassmembly to fit into the Transportation Configuration, while on the other hand the Chief Robot Inspector for FIRST is saying that it's illegal. Normally I'd just go with the manual, but as I've been told many times on this forum the Lead Robot Inspector is the final authority at events. If there's been a rule change from what's written in the manual to disallow minor disassembly I'd like to know as soon as possible and I also would like to know why this hasn't been addressed in a Team Update.