R14

[ravichauhan]

Does this rule apply to fasteners heads as well?

[tim-tim]

Based on the chaos with it last year, we are deciding to not put fasteners on the out side of the robot unless they are countersink or counterbore. To be safe I would say that fastners ARE included in R14, but I would double check in Q&A

[Karibou]

The answer to your question lies in the definition of the Frame Perimeter (which can be found in the Glossary - section 1.6 of the manual).

[Jon Stratis]

but keep in mind... while fastener heads are permitted in the bumper zone, according to the definition of FRAME PERIMETER, fasteners outside the bumper zone are not included in this definition. So if you have a piece of sheet metal forming the side of your robot, you can have fastener heads at the bottom where the bumpers are... but they will stick outside your frame perimeter at the top. I've seen get called for this in the past, and it's not fun to be in that situation.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by eagle33199

but keep in mind... while fastener heads are permitted in the bumper zone, according to the definition of FRAME PERIMETER, fasteners outside the bumper zone are not included in this definition.

That is true. Didn't even think about that. Thanks.

[Sunshine]

hmmmmm...

I assumed the following took care of this issue:

Each BUMPER segment must be backed by a piece of ¾” thick by 5” tall piece of plywood. Small clearance pockets and/or access holes in the plywood backing are permitted, as long as they do not significantly affect the structural integrity of the BUMPER.

[mathking]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

hmmmmm...

I assumed the following took care of this issue:

Each BUMPER segment must be backed by a piece of ¾” thick by 5” tall piece of plywood. Small clearance pockets and/or access holes in the plywood backing are permitted, as long as they do not significantly affect the structural integrity of the BUMPER.

The point made above is that fastener heads which are above or below (this year that is going to mostly mean above) the Bumper Zone might not be able to intrude into the Frame Perimeter. Something for Q&A, but to be safe it is best to design under the assumption that you can't have any bolt heads outside the Frame Perimeter outside of the Bumper Zone.

I REALLY hope that this year they are less cryptic in their responses on Q&A. I do not usually complain about these things, but last year's replies to questions about bolt heads increased, rather than decreased, the confusion. So much so that even inspectors at competitions were not sure of the rules.

[Mike Schreiber]

Play it safe. Don't put bolt heads sticking out past your frame perimeter in areas that aren't in the bumper zone. The Note below <R14> states.

If a ROBOT is designed as intended and in its STARTING CONFIGURATION, you should be able to push the ROBOT (with BUMPERS removed) up against a vertical wall, and the FRAME PERIMETER will be the only point of contact with the wall.

If you remove your bumper and the area that hits the wall first is not the frame member supporting the bumper then you are in violation. AKA a bolt sticking out that is above the bumper zone and outside of the frame perimeter is in violation.

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

hmmmmm...

I assumed the following took care of this issue:

Each BUMPER segment must be backed by a piece of ¾” thick by 5” tall piece of plywood. Small clearance pockets and/or access holes in the plywood backing are permitted, as long as they do not significantly affect the structural integrity of the BUMPER.

<R07> section K:

BUMPERS must attach to the FRAME PERIMETER of the ROBOT with a rigid fastening system to form a tight, robust connection to the main structure/frame (e.g. not attached with Velcro). The attachment system must be designed to withstand vigorous game play. All removable fasteners (e.g. bolts, locking pins, pip-pins, etc.) will be considered part of the BUMPERS.

The BUMPER backing must be supported by the structure/frame of the ROBOT (i.e. the gap between the backing material and the frame must not be greater than 1/4” and no section of BUMPER greater than 8” may be unsupported). See Figure 3-3.

So even without those clearance holes for the fastener heads, so long as the bumpers don't stick out more than 1/4" from the frame, your fine.