Openings in the Bumper

[Team5490]

Our design requires an opening in the bumper, is this legal?

[rich2202]

Search for bumper questions. The short answer is "yes, but with limitations". In this game, those limitations tend to pose problems.

[MrBasse]

I would have no issue with an opening in the bumper and we fully intend to use one this year.

[Boltman]

Yes we are using an opening at front. Be careful with the 8" requirement as too much of an opening makes robot wide. We are already bumping (pun) against 120"

[Hadi379]

Originally Posted by Boltman

Yes we are using an opening at front. Be careful with the 8" requirement as too much of an opening makes robot wide. We are already bumping (pun) against 120"

Glad to see were not the only one in that boat...

[Chief Hedgehog]

Your robot can have an opening - yes. But all sides must have at least 8" of continuous backing from your frame. Not total of 8" of backing frame (i.e. - one side is 7" and the other is 7") - if you have a break:

Each side measured from the exterior corners must have at least 8" of continuous frame backing the bumper.

I wished that they would word it this way in the manual - but they don't. If each of your bumpers is less than 8" backed by a frame member, it will most likely be deemed illegal.

This last Saturday the leaders of FRC 4607 went round and round on this issue. We have a mentor that is a Robot Inspector and we also have a Junior that has built our bumpers in 2014. The Junior responsible for bumpers found an issue in our frame and brought it up to our mentor (Robot Inspector) and from what the Junior saw, we needed at least 8" of frame member from the exterior corner covered by a backed bumper. The design and build teams disagreed vehemently and so we conferred and then sought out a ruling from another Robot Inspector (JonStratis - LRI MN) and he confirmed this.

IF your robot has a break in perimeter, your robot will require at least 8" on either side of the break to be legal for the bumper rule!

This was a great learning experience for my team. During and the discussion - and then following it - I instructed my leaders this:

"Check the rules, check your emotions, and then verify with the inspectors. Trust, but verify."

[Type]

Sorry to change the subject but while we are talking about an opening, is it legal to put numbers on each side of the front? So for example, my team is 3452, would it be legal to have "34" on one side of the opening, then the other side "52"?

[Boltman]

Originally Posted by Type

Sorry to change the subject but while we are talking about an opening, is it legal to put numbers on each side of the front? So for example, my team is 3452, would it be legal to have "34" on one side of the opening, then the other side "52"?

Yes from game manual.

"There is no prohibition against splitting Team numbers onto different
sections of BUMPER. The intent is that the Team’s number is clearly
visible and unambiguous so that Judges, Referees, Announcers, and
other Teams can easily identify competing ROBOTS"

[AllenGregoryIV]

Originally Posted by Type

Sorry to change the subject but while we are talking about an opening, is it legal to put numbers on each side of the front? So for example, my team is 3452, would it be legal to have "34" on one side of the opening, then the other side "52"?

Please read the manual and then ask if you are still unclear.

R28 Blue Box

There is no prohibition against splitting Team numbers onto different
sections of BUMPER. The intent is that the Team’s number is clearly
visible and unambiguous so that Judges, Referees, Announcers, and
other Teams can easily identify competing ROBOTS.

[adamdb]

We are struggling with the same issue (need an opening for a 10" boulder, don't want the robot to be too wide). I have read and re-read the bumper rules until my head is spinning. Would the following configuration be allowed?
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[/font]
If the angled sections at the front were 8" long, would this meet the 8" bumper segment requirement? If the angled segments were at 45 degrees and the "long" leg of the triangle formed by this were 8" long, then the short side of the triangle is only (approximately) 5.6".

So 5.6" * 2 plus an 11" opening for the ball would have a width of only 22.2 inches.

Would this be legal?

TIA

[rich2202]

No. The only exception to the 8" rule is if the entire side is less than 8". In your example, you chooses not to put the frame at the U. That does not qualify you for the exception.

[EricH]

The support structure for the bumpers will define the frame perimeter in that case. Your frame perimeter must be <=120".

Because there is frame perimeter there, you will have to put 8" of bumper on both sides of the corner thus formed. Or, in this case, 11.5" of bumper covering the opening (because 8" of bumper + 8" of bumper = 16"...on a 11.5" section of frame). Not a legal configuration to leave the gap open, sorry.