I like the bumper rule. It forces you to further engineer your robot to meet specs laid out by a pseudo-customer. And since our bot will be going roughly 15ft/s this year, I honestly want the impact force of ~.015 seconds spread out over a pool noodle instead of the frame. Bumpers are cheap (time-wise) to replace at the competition; aluminum framing is not.
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Anyone can make a something strong, but it takes and engineer to make something strong and light. and isn't that what we are supposed to be? Future Engineers!
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Engineering is not solely experimentation. Engineering really is about solving problems, and problems ALWAYS have constraints or things that you CANNOT assume or modify.
In the real world, if you don't like the constraints put onto you by Nature, you can, simply put, get over it.
In the real world, if you don't like the constraints put onto you by your engineering employer, you can find a new job or go it alone.
However, in the real world if you go it alone as an engineer and don't conform to the constraints of your customer, you won't make any products/designs that actually solve someone's problem. You also won't make any money.
Even as a theorist or scientist, you will have constraints you knew about and pull your hair out trying to find the ones you don't know about. The difference is that as an engineer at least most of your restrictions, regulations, and requirements are straightforward.
Now, to engineer something strong and light for your bot, you can make a 2x2x2' cube. Your bumpers are only 6' long, which is roughly 8lbs, and 8 outta 15 ain't bad. Put a hemispherical dome on top of the cube and BAM you can run around with flare like R2D2.