[Scott Hill]

Precision in communication in any endeavour is as important, if not more so, than precision in measuring or calculation, just to use 2 examples from engineering. You can do layout work with a knotted string or a digital caliper, with the performance of your resulting effort rewarded accordingly. Communication, on the written/spoken end, AND on the reading/listening end, is no different.

The precise use of language; the challenge of presenting requirements and ideas well, AND the challenge of interpreting those same requirements/ideas just as well, is one of my favorite aspects of FIRST, this game included, and the current bumper requirements included. So many people seem frustrated by this, I find it a joy and time passes without notice when I am helping my team determine the limits of the box they have given us within which to play this game.

Carefully reading and understanding the rules and subsequent commentary (without jumping to preconceived or hasty conclusions) is as important an aspect of this game as any other. If you carefully read the rules, the updates, and the Q&A I think you will find that the GDC has been very particular and very consistent in their writing of, commenting on, and answering of questions with respect to the bumpers.

Getting more specific with respect to bumpers, I believe the GDC has stated consistently that all sides of the robot must be protected by bumpers, I do not believe they have ever stated that all sides of the robot must have bumpers (if you look closely, there is an indication that they don't necessarily expect all sides of robots to have bumpers). The two statements do not communicate the same thing and the application of one versus the other can result in significantly different designs, one of which may have advantages over the other. What's the definition of protection of a side you may ask? It seems to me that the GDC states this very clearly when in the Competition Manual they write in <R08> ..."If implemented as intended, a ROBOT that is driven into a vertical wall in any normal PLAYING CONFIGURATION will always have the BUMPER be the first thing to contact the wall."... If you design your robots bumpers so that this is the case, then the side is protected, and protected per the manual requirement.

There is another bumper design concept, developed with what I would call a more comprehensive understanding of the rules, that has only been hinted at in these discussions (if you look carefully) and which I think will appear in significant numbers at competitions. So take off your lawyer hat, put on your Deer Stalker, and re-study the rules / comments.

"Lawyering the rules". I continue to be confused by this phrase in the context in which it is commonly used here. "Understanding, designing and engineering to the rules", is what my team strives for in our participation in FIRST. Too many times I think the phrase "lawyering the rules" is and will be used to denigrate good "understanding, design, and engineering to the rules". I hope this practice goes away.

In the spirit of great communication, GREAT fun, great design, and great engineering......... good luck to all in the pursuit of this challenge!