[Craig Roys]

I'm not counting on the rule changing and we'll just go back to our previous chassis design - we just thought it might be nice to try something new (or at least new to us). That's not a real big deal. I am a little suspect of being able to break 3/4" plywood supported every 12". If you point the grain correctly and you use "plywood" (as opposed to OSB or something similar) it should be near impossible to splinter. 1/2" plywood is commonly used on roofs with 24" inch centers between trusses - again, if the grain is pointed correctly it is very strong. Keep in mind that roofs in MI need to hold a lot of snow at times. I don't know what your set up was and it's quite possible that I'm wrong - it wouldn't be the first time. I may have to set up and run some tests just to satisfy my curiosity and skepticism.

But that's not my main argument here. Every team knows (or at least learns quickly - sometimes the hard way) that you need to build a robot robustly to compete in a FIRST competition; especially in elimination rounds. If a robot is not robust enough you will spend your time fixing it as opposed to competing. If a team tries to cut corners to save weight or $$$, they do so at there own risk knowing that the robot needs to hold up to the rigors of competition. I think that the same should go for bumpers - if you choose not to follow the GDC's recommendations for installation you do so at your own risk knowing that you can't compete with broken bumpers.

But, like I said; life goes on - we'll just adjust our designs accordingly and move on.