Bumper Rule <R17>

[Veselin Kolev]

The rule:
<R17> In order to help reduce the impact forces that the robot will experience during collisions with other robots,
teams may add external “bumpers” to the robot. If used, bumpers must satisfy the following constraints:
• Bumpers may extend outside the normal robot starting dimensions (in the horizontal plane) up to 4.”
• Bumpers must be located in a region from 2” to 8” above the playing field surface.
• Bumpers must not cause the weight of the robot to exceed the weight limit.
• Bumpers must be removable in order to allow the robot starting size to be easily measured during robot inspection.
• Bumpers must remain attached to the robot for the duration of the match.
• Bumpers and any bumper mounts that extend beyond the robot starting size may not contain “hard” materials such as metal, wood, or hard plastics. The definition of “hard” is one of common sense, i.e., if you can punch it and not hurt your bare hand, it is ok.
• Adhesive-backed tape may not be used to fasten bumpers.

Two questions on this one:
1. They say you need to have bumpers from 2" to 8". Can you have them to be more, say, from 1" to 10"?
2. Would a 1/16 polycarbonate panel be allowed as a bumper? It flexes, so it isn't exacly a "hard plastic".

Thanks