[EricH]

Originally Posted by Urban Hawk

i disagree with the fact you can't get a larger bumper. [...]
Yet think about it this way... what if you make the bumpers within the bumper parameter. that is to say if you have a robot smaller then the maximum size, and add another piece to the robot (such as a spring mechanism so it wouldn't be damaged). If that piece resides within the bumper zone, yet which is not part of the bumper, and that piece extends all the way out to the max dimensions then technically by the rules you can build the bumper so that the bumper starts at the normal frame of the robot and then extends out to the max parameter + 3 1/2 inches. under that method u can increase the horizontal dimensions of the bumpers by a few inches as long as it stays in the 18 pound weight limit.

If I understand you correctly, you don't understand the rule.

1) The bumper perimeter is defined by wrapping a string around your robot in the bumper zone at the largest points (Section 8.2). You have to put your bumpers on this point (<R08-L>). If you dynamically change your bumper perimeter during the match, your bumpers must go with it (early Q&A). So if you have a spring, the bumpers must follow the spring outwards, whether it's deployed before or during the match.

2) <R02-N> states that bumpers may extend beyond the bumper perimeter up to 3.5" per side. This has been clarified in Q&A that this is normal to the bumper perimeter plane. This includes: 2.5" of pool noodles, 0.75" of plywood, and miscellaneous hardware. That is 3.25" without cloth or hardware (like, say, the clamping angle).