[Lawry Goldstein]

I quick note on bumper coverings:

Two years ago we used a black nylon that was very thin; it took no damage during the Midwest regional. We had our name on them with stickers which were replaced at least one per day and were still getting destroyed, so these were taking at least a few hits, even if we fell over most matches.

Last year we used pleather, and it got destroyed by a wooden insert that was in the shape of our name (Warbots), however it survived as you might expect pleather to.

In generally, as long as you get any nylon product it will be very strong and nylon is also generally very smooth, so other robots being required to have bumpers in a similar area, on 2/3rds of their robot, and not being allowed to play defense shouldn't be a problem at all. Just keep your plywood to spec and don't include any weird, sharp objects in the middle.

On weight, if you’re looking only to fit in the 15 pound bumper limit, don't be too worried. Two years ago we had 3/4 sides covered (one wide was partially open) and we used 1.5 in square tube with 1/8th thick sidewalls for mounting, it all still came in underweight. If you’re looking to come in underweight just look for a decently light/strong nylon fabric and use it with nothing weird inside the bumpers themselves.