Bumper question

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

The team update does not make the frame design illegal it simply calls any bumper like assembly that is mounted inside the frame perimeter "not a bumper". The bumper is the subject of the update.

Al, that "not a bumper" makes the frame design illegal due to the bumper mounting rules. Here is my logic sequence. I will use "Bumpers" to designate manual-spec bumpers and "bumpers" to designate non-manual-spec bumpers

1. Both sides of a vertex of the Frame Perimeter must have 8" of Bumpers. [R27]
2. Bumpers must be firmly attached to the Frame Perimeter. [R28-E]
3. The Frame Perimeter definition ([R01] blue box) for the robot in question is a rectangle.
4. Because the bumpers inside the Frame Perimeter are not Bumpers ([R27], Figure 4-3), they are not adequately protecting the Frame Perimeter vertices in question per [R27]. (I know that's kind of a weird thing to say--something that is adequately protected is not considered adequately protected. But, that's the way the rules are written.) This results in a violation of [R27].
5. There is no way to attach 8" of Bumper on the Frame Perimeter and have it be supported as required by [R33] with the design in question.
6. Therefore, because a) [R27] is violated and b) there is no way to turn them into Bumpers without modifying the frame in question to support bumpers as required by [R33] and [R28-E], the robot frame design is illegal.

The Update didn't make the frame design illegal, true. It clarified that it was definitely illegal by declaring, once and for all of 2012, that bumpers inside the Frame Perimeter were not, in fact, Bumpers. The bumper rules take care of the rest.