[FRC Blog] Pool Noodles for the 2017 Season

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by BotDesigner

Just out of curiosity, are there any teams that don't use the round pool noodles and go with one of the other shapes? It seems to me that the shape of pool noodles in the bumpers could dramatically affect robot to robot contact and I am a little surprised that I have never seen it discussed here.

The bigger issue is really solid versus hollow - solid bumper noodles compress less and resist T-Bone pins, but hollow bumper noodles compress more and are better for performing said pins and other defensive maneuvers.

If I were so hyper-competitive that I wanted to give my robotics team every edge possible, I'd consider making one of each and switching bumpers based on strategy. But I don't know if I want to put in that much effort.