Bumper #'s : Stick on Vinyl ? Type Of Paint ?

[Jon Stratis]

We've used screen printing for a number of years, and it's never come off.

[de_]

Dumb question: I am assuming screen printing means silk screen printing which means a trip to a graphics art company. What sort of costs ?

[engunneer]

You can buy a simple screen printing kit at an art store for $50-$100, which will come with everything you need for 8 sets of numbers. It's a pretty neat skill to learn anyway.

[Mr V]

Out team just gets some of the same material used for the bumper covers in white, cuts out the numbers and sews them on. One of our other Mentors has a nice sewing machine she brought in and a couple of our students became pretty good at using it, another skill that isn't bad to have.

Please note this years bumper rules regarding numbers:

[R35]

Teams shall display their team number on the Bumpers in four locations at approximately 90° intervals around the perimeter of the Robot. The numerals must be at least 4 in. high, at least ¾ in. in stroke width, and be either white in color or outlined in white. Team numbers must be clearly visible from a distance of not less than 100 ft, so that judges, referees, and announcers can easily identify competing Robots.

Bold mine, as that is a new requirement this year. So Sharpies aren't likely going to cut it anymore.

[jason701802]

I hadn't noticed R35. It's probably won't be as nice, but you could still outline the silver with a white paint pen. I wonder what the GDC has against silver.

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by de_

Dumb question: I am assuming screen printing means silk screen printing which means a trip to a graphics art company. What sort of costs ?

A local company charged $12.50 setup fee, and $4 per print. Since our team number only covered 9.5x4", each bumper was $4, so $32 + $12.50. All the mentors thought it was a great idea--- excellent result, no hassle. Especially with the remaining time we had.