[Mike Rizzo]

My thoughts on bumpers, just my opinions: (and I will try to keep it brief)
Commenting As a Ref, Team Bumper maker, and as a 11 veteran of FIRST

First of all as a Ref it makes it very easy for me to distinguish between teams, the different colors are great. Also displaying the numbers is an added bonus as well.

As for making the Bumpers I made 2 separate sets of bumpers which took around 20 hours, (including the errors that needed to be corrected) to create. They are well within the weight limit and are durable, have not had issues with them at all. They can also be changed in about a minute.

I would be more then happy to share how they are made if there is any interest.

As for when there were no bumpers I must admit it was something to see robots smashing into other robots, metal on metal, it did add a certain element of excitement to the game for those watching. However the more time you spend on a team and the more money you put into the robot it hurts to see anytime you robot takes battle damage.

Now aside from safety and helping reduce repairs the bumpers were an integral part of the game this year. If your robot did not have bumpers it could just drive along the side to the field plowing any and all balls in was right to the goal. Since we all know how much the balls enjoyed resting against the walls. If your robot was built to the footprint allowed then it was going to be a tight squeeze though the tunnel for you and the fact that they can’t articulate them over the bump added a new challenge. That is just a few examples of how they work with the game.

I feel the GDC knew exactly what they were doing when they created the bumper rules and all others. Each rule and game element had a place and a reason.