pic: Bumper slices

[Nate Laverdure]

loading photo ...

[JohnBoucher]

Great Idea. !!! Pink?

[rsisk]

I love this idea, simple and easy. Now if only my team could make a decent bumper...

Of course, one problem this doesn't solve is how to attach to the robot.

[Aroki]

The metal pieces looks like a nice idea. Our team just folds the fabric over and uses a staple gun thing to upholster the edge which works fantastically.

This also gave me the idea to make a cut out of bumpers with our team number on it to give to sponsors

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

Great Idea. !!! Pink?

Bad lighting and color balance

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Bad lighting and color balance

Ah, the pink is red and the red is blue.

[Mr V]

Great idea! I think I wish the rookies in my state this year weren't all so far away.

[Qbot2640]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Bad lighting and color balance

You mean "complementary lighting and appearance-correcting color balance" I love the Hotbotz-Pink!

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Goal: decrease TO ZERO the incidence of inspection failures due to bumper construction in the states of Virginia and North Carolina.

That is a noble goal, but remember that it is not only cross-section that defines a bumper. Make sure they cover the corners, and fasten them to their frame rigidly.

[BBray_T1296]

Speaking of "making sure your bumpers are securely fastened"

at the Dallas Regional this year, in Elims we slammed a robot so hard all of their bumpers fell off (unintentionally).

Each trip to the feeder station included bumpy section as we navigated (drove over) the pile of bumpers in the way

[Kevin Leonard]

Originally Posted by Aroki

This also gave me the idea to make a cut out of bumpers with our team number on it to give to sponsors

I love it. I'm gonna mention this to our team.

I also love the idea of showing rookies how to build bumpers.
Good stuff.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

That is a noble goal, but remember that it is not only cross-section that defines a bumper. Make sure they cover the corners, and fasten them to their frame rigidly.

I considered sinking a T-nut into the plywood per the manual's recommendation. I dropped this idea because (1) I haven't actually seen anybody use this attachment method effectively and (2) what am I, made of money?

On a per-slice basis:
Angle $0.58
Fabric $0.16
Wood screws $0.14
Medium-quality birch ply $0.12
Noodle $0.07
T-nut $0.27
HHCS $0.25

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

I considered sinking a T-nut into the plywood per the manual's recommendation. I dropped this idea because (1) I haven't actually seen anybody use this attachment method effectively and (2) what am I, made of money?

Could always print a giant poster with Figure 4-4 on it to keep in the pits.

[DELurker]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Goal: decrease TO ZERO the incidence of inspection failures due to bumper construction in the states of Virginia and North Carolina.

These "single-serving bumpers" were built to the 2013 FRC rules. I should have enough to give them away, as I see fit, for several years. I intend to give one to each rookie team that I can reach. Hopefully there won't be any rule changes!

Good goal. However, if you want to go further, prepare a bunch or backer boards, pool noodles, fabric, and fabric paint pens (white) already pre-cut to width (5" boards, 11-1/2" or so for the fabric) so that some bumpers could be rapidly assembled at events if they were needed. There are always one or two teams that miss something in the rules for the bumpers that probably cannot fix them at the event.

[IKE]

Has anyone found a fast dry, easy and cheap to apply numbering method? I bought a bunch of fabric paint pens, but frankly, they do not work very well. While they do meet the "legal" interpretation of white outlined numbers, they are usually quite faint and barely legible.

Does anyone else have an inexpensive and fast method for bumper numbers?

Also, I usually only get 1 robot each year with a "cross section" issue. Usually it is using a 0.5" board or plywood instead of the 3/4".

Numbers, bumper height, and perimeter compliances (8" inimum or angle of wrap or...) tend to be the bigger issues I have seen.