[JesseK]

There are definitely ways to think about bumpers in the non-mainstream way. Just Think PINK (233).

PINK had a hard time convincing inspectors their bumpers were legit in 2014. It was easily one of the best and most robust bumper setups I've ever seen: 1x1" thin wall welded as a rectangle around the inside of their bumpers. The outer edge of the 1x1 tubing defined their frame perimeter, and attached to sturdy 2x1 mounts in their WCD setup. It was very robust, and very easy to change bumpers. Yet the tubing was, more or less, permanently mounted to the bumpers.

The 'quick replacement' method had them replace the frame and bumpers together, so there were two sets of frames (1 per bumper set). They weren't able to demonstrate the frame could be detached from the bumper though, so it was deemed illegal at the MD regional since the frame itself defined the robot frame perimeter (and the bumper parts are not what define that perimeter). They 'fixed' it using zip ties to define something or other.

The 2016 legal way to do this setup would be to detach the 1x1 tubing from the bumpers and attach one of the rectangles to the robot to define the frame perimeter. Then for inspection the other frame would also be weighed with the robot as 'multiple configurations'. Then the kids demonstrate attachment of the bumpers to the frame rectangle during inspection in 5 minutes. After that it doesn't matter how the team decides to switch bumpers.

It was a great setup that I wished we could have replicated this year, but for the very large wheels...