Bumpers Are A Problem

[mrnoble]

At the end of build season for Rebound Rumble in 2012, I was just getting into and appreciating the power of CD, and I decided to post an image of our completed robot. The team and I were proud of what we believed would be a winner. The responses started coming in; nearly everyone said "what about the bumpers?". We had neglected to put good bumper attachment points on our design, and had to spend our last precious days frantically adding some. The same lack of care and attention that led to that problem, by the way, also led to a number of other unseen issues which meant we had performance nightmares that year, which was embarrassing but led to a lot of personal and team growth.

This year I'm seeing a frightening number of robot images posted which seem to have no way to attach legal bumpers. Most of these have utilized the Rhino track modules, though not all. Combine the use of tank tread designs with last year's "no bumpers required" game, and I think we are headed for trouble. I realize that some of the posted designs are incomplete, and I know this (to some extent) happens every year, but this year seems inordinately problematic. Because I've been through it, I URGE teams to carefully consider the advice of your fellow CD'ers when they question the legality of your images. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR ROBOT SATISFIES ALL THE REQUIREMENTS REGARDING BUMPER ATTACHMENT NOW, while you have a few days to consider and implement fixes. You will definitely regret it if you don't get this fixed now. Thanks. And best of luck to all of you.

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