pic: illegal or not?

[joshsmithers]

Originally Posted by jvriezen

Actually, I'd be worried about the bumper number rules. They must be white, or outlined in white. Those are white&black and the white is not the outline color. Also, from a rough guess, I'd say the white portion is not a 3/4" stroke assuming the numbers are 4" tall, and the black wouldn't count since it has hardly any contrast with the red so it does not add to readability.

Are they that strict on the bumpers nowadays? They're definitely white.... and very legible.

[pfreivald]

Originally Posted by joshsmithers

Are they that strict on the bumpers nowadays? They're definitely white.... and very legible.

Yes, they're that strict -- either they follow the rules or they don't pass inspection. Lots of teams have had bumper issues trying to pass inspection this year.

[Phyrxes]

One of the more common parts requests on Thursday at the Chesapeake regional was "Team X is looking for white fabric paint (and a brush)." Apparently a lot of people missed the whole number has to be white or outlined in white line that was different from last year.

[jyh947]

Originally Posted by Phyrxes

One of the more common parts requests on Thursday at the Chesapeake regional was "Team X is looking for white fabric paint (and a brush)." Apparently a lot of people missed the whole number has to be white or outlined in white line that was different from last year.

Here are the direct rules on the bumper text color rule:

2011: “<R09>...The numerals must be at least 4” high, at least in ¾” stroke width and in a contrasting color from its background...”
2012: “[R35] ...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...”

[Jaxom]

Originally Posted by joshsmithers

Are they that strict on the bumpers nowadays? They're definitely white.... and very legible.

If they're not a 3/4" stroke & 4" tall, redo them. I had a couple of robots that I inspected at GKC that had to re-do their numbers for this very reason. There may have been others. We also had a lot of other bumper issues that had to be corrected; the other big one was the 8" protection of corners.

[Tom Line]

Yes, they are that strict.

This past weekend at the West Michigan District, the measurers informed us half way through the competition that we were not legal. Our bumper hardware and backing was good, but in the corners where the bumper fabric was folded, it touched their measuring jig (the jig was 2 inches high).

We interpreted the rule differently, in that we believed if a 2 inch jig could easily slide under our bumpers then we were legal. They disagreed, and said our bumpers couldn't touch the top of their 2 inch jig.

A half pound of staples later, out bumpers are aesthetically disgusting, but the fabric no longer brushed the 2 inch jig.

Live and learn.