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View Poll Results: How do you change your bumper colors?
Switch between two sets of red and blue bumpers 64 54.24%
Slip a skirt over it 8 6.78%
Use reversible bumpers with two colors on one set 44 37.29%
Other 2 1.69%
Voters: 118. You may not vote on this poll

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  #16   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 08-01-2014, 20:07
LeadU2Fun LeadU2Fun is offline
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

We have always done 2 sets but are tackling the reversibles this year. We have one of the schools classes (graphics) either silk screen or vinyl cut the numbers and put them on for us. Check with your school to see if there is a class that makes T-shirts and they should be able to help.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 20:21
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Our team used reversible bumpers last year that used elastic bands that would wrap either over the top of the bumper or underneath the bumper depending on what color we needed and looped into small hooks attached to the back.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 20:26
MrBasse MrBasse is offline
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bEdhEd View Post
That's pretty neat! It's like a hybrid between a skirt and a reversible! How well does it stand up to the rigors of gameplay? I can't see much of a reason for regular bumping or sliding to cause the bungee cord to slip, so this looks pretty reliable. The only problem I could see is the fabric getting caught in the wheels from being pushed around. We like velcro because it anchors the fabric in a specific place, making sure it stays away from moving parts. I might get my team to try this for the season. I want to make sure I get the instructions for this, so along with posting a white paper, could you also send me a personal message?
The bungee on our 2013 bot was entirely inside the frame perimeter so it never came in contact with anything. We just put a couple of small bolts around the outside at the corners of the frame to hold the bungee from getting tangled with the wheels. We actually forgot to change colors until we were lined up to get on the field at MSC, but with two people it is about two seconds to swap colors.

PM sent...
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Unread 08-01-2014, 20:38
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBasse View Post
The bungee on our 2013 bot was entirely inside the frame perimeter so it never came in contact with anything. We just put a couple of small bolts around the outside at the corners of the frame to hold the bungee from getting tangled with the wheels. We actually forgot to change colors until we were lined up to get on the field at MSC, but with two people it is about two seconds to swap colors.

PM sent...
I remember in 2010 when bumpers first became red/blue I independently came up with a reversible design as a rookie, but the way I made them wouldn't work because I didn't put a 45 degree "miter joint" on the fabric so we had to stuff extra fabric in to the space between bumpers. We gave up on the reversibles that year and just kept em on the blue side and used a red skirt.

Then in 2011, I re-designed the fabric to have the miter, and at the moment, nobody else, (or at least one or two teams, if my memory is off) at our main regional had reversibles yet, so we would purposely neglect to change colors when lining up at the start of a match, so we could show off our new bumpers on the field. It was fun seeing other teams who never saw reversibles gasp at the speed of our color changing! We also did it to implicitly spread the idea that color changing can be easy, and that you don't need to have skirts or two sets of bumpers.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 20:42
savagecreature savagecreature is offline
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

We tried reversible bumpers last year and really liked them.

For bumper numbers we got 4" white numbers from https://www.numbers4sports.com/ and ironed them on the Cordura. They looked really sharp. We were concerned that the Cordura would melt, but we didn't need super high heat to get really good adhesion.

Numbers4Sports gives you a price break when you order 10 of each number so it was also affordable. We needed 8 sets of numbers for the bumpers anyway and then screwed up ironing one set on (upside down, oops) so it worked out well that we ordered 10 sets.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 20:49
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

We had a really bad experince with reversibles last year. So we will be using drop pins this year. But I really want to go back to reversible bumpers so if you finish that white page I'd be eager to read and try at my home before showing the team.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 21:09
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

The basics of how to do reversible bumpers is shown in this thread. While not quite as in depth as a white paper would be, it's actually simpler than one would think. Changing to bungie rather than velcro would require MrBasse to elaborate though.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 21:47
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bEdhEd View Post
Another way to get crisp numbers is to get them silkscreen printed or ironed on. As for how 2056 does it, they may have some connections to people who dye fabric. You should ask one of their members for more information. They have a convenient "contact us" page on their website where you can ask them directly.

http://www.2056.ca/contact

As for my team, we use a stencil and fabric paint like many teams do.
You can purchase iron-on transfers that are laser-jet compatible. 2996 has done this for at least the last four years.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 22:03
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

I've been doing FIRST for 7 years now. I've used all of the above. Different sets in 2012, skirts in 2011 and 2013 and reversible in 2010 (for the record, I honestly forgot how we did it in 08 and in 09 we had a single white bumper. This was before the advent of the colored bumpers with team number on it requirement). Heck, in 2011, we had a rigid frame that dropped into place on the frame, and used the skirt (which ended up being too small!!!).

Not sure what we're going with this year, but I can tell you we will have distinct segments, whether we go full length or only worry about complying with the rules (> 8" from each corner).
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Unread 08-01-2014, 23:30
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Our team (2177) has used reversible Velcro bumpers for the past few years and they work really well. I did make a white paper recently explaining how we make them. We have the numbers screen-printed on.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 23:35
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

We've used all of them, but in 2013 we used the reversibles with velcro. Worked great, changing colors only took seconds.

The "skirts" are annoying because you have to worry about not getting them tangled within itself and making it look good and flat without a ton of wrinkles, but a good option to save space nonetheless.

I wouldn't recommend 2 sets of bumpers, but sometimes if you're looking for really tight and clean looking bumpers, you might need two sets, but you can probably achieve a neat finish with the other two methods as well.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 23:52
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Reversible bumper white paper

We have a white paper on our reversible (velcro) bumpers at http://kbots.files.wordpress.com/201...ble-bumper.pdf

They are incredibly easy to change. We've had people in queue tell us "Hey, you guys need to change your bumpers!" "OK ... done."

Plus, they never come off, never get tangled, and always look good.
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Unread 08-01-2014, 23:57
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Separate sets. Everything else looks bad.
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Unread 09-01-2014, 00:11
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Quote:
Originally Posted by bEdhEd View Post
Team 701 prefers reversible Velcro bumpers. We do this so we do not use any space in the pit for another set, and so we do not have to use skirts which can look messy, or can come loose during a match. The nice thing about reversibles, is that we never have to think about which color our bumpers have to be. We usually change colors in queuing, but if we forget, we change them on the field when setting up the robot. We like not having to worry about bumpers that involve extra pieces, like skirts and sets. The only time we ever remove our bumpers is during inspection.
This is the same process that Team 3200 has been using for the last 2 years. We found it a large hassle to change out bumpers completly.
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Unread 09-01-2014, 01:22
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Re: Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

Reversables FTW

We would also purposely come with the wrong colors to show off one of the only things that worked really well on our robot...
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