This discussion misses the point-the bumpers!!!
Who cares how they are mounted as long as it is safe and there is no unfair advantage?
Consider this more- if you built the bumpers exactly to the specs in the rule book last year they could not make the specified weight.
This is a VERY sore subject since I spent most of a day dealing with a x**&*^ inspector at Nationals who seemed to think there is only one right way to do things. Apparently the rumors of the CD community weigh a lot with some inspectors over others. Sometimes enforcing the spirit of the rule book is more important than enforcing the letter of it.
Mark these words- the day is coming when all FIRST robots will be clones of each other with little or no freedom for individual innovation of design.
Lets hope that this year's game will encourage a diverse array of innovative designs and materials uses. Otherwise we might as well eliminate the Xerox Creativity Award.
WC
(yeah- this ticks me off)