pic: Robot Bumpers

[Jared Russell]

In my mind, a legal curve's minimum radius is functionally defined by your ability to bend a solid piece of 3/4" plywood around it without causing your bumper to break any rules (e.g. it must be backed all the way around by frame and remain rigid and strong).

This limit arguably excludes an even larger class of curves than the "I know a curve when I see it" test...

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Abwehr

In my mind, a legal curve's minimum radius is functionally defined by your ability to bend a solid piece of 3/4" plywood around it without causing your bumper to break any rules (e.g. it must be backed all the way around by frame and remain rigid and strong).

This limit arguably excludes an even larger class of curves than the "I know a curve when I see it" test...

And how is that test applied when you steam the piece of plywood and bend it around a 1/4-inch radius? (yes, it can be done)

You see, the arguments are not as simple as they might first appear.


-dave



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[Gdeaver]

This thread is an_l retentive. Get on with it. Week 4 is half shot. There have got to be other issues with the robot than your robot's rear end. Square it up and move on. The design does not allow picking up from the floor so you got 7 balls to make count. The drivers need allot of practice to make each one of them count. Our team learned from aim high that the human loading of balls requires great skill. With the strategy you have chosen practice and perfection are more important than the robots but. Let this thread die.

[Dr Theta]

Here's a purely hypothetical situation. Let's say that a team designs a chassis in which there are no sharp angles, only rounded ones so their bot isn't actually a polygon, nor does it actually have any corners... Say using a bent-pipe frame rather than straight-pipe? Just curious.

[Aren_Hill]

this debate effects other robot orientations than just the one being shown, so it should kinda be resolved before the regionals begin, so dont let the thread die please. This also is not talking specifically about the robot mentioned in the other thread.

[Dr Theta]

I have to agree that this is a vital issue, I would hate to see teams disqualified over this rule. I believe that this orientation is Illegal as stated within the manual in which clearly states Compliance with all rules is mandatory this orientation is not in compliance with all rules and is therefore illegal.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Aren_Hill

this debate effects other robot orientations than just the one being shown, so it should kinda be resolved before the regionals begin, so dont let the thread die please. This also is not talking specifically about the robot mentioned in the other thread.

Hopefully, there are NO teams that are allowing this discussion to influence the design of their robots. If any team still has serious questions about how the rules are interpreted and/or applied, they should be going to the official FRC Q&A forums to get those questions answered. To remind everyone once again, NONE of the discussions here - no matter who the source may be - are official answers. Nothing said here will carry any weight with the inspectors or competition officials. "I got the answer on CD" does not work when trying to explain why your 167 pound robot should be allowed to compete (yes, this has happened ).

Related to that, the various responses in the Q&A forums have made it pretty clear that reviews of specific designs will not be provided. But you can expect direct questions about how a rule will be applied to be answered. So when posing your question, instead of asking "here is a picture of my design - tell me if my corner bumpers are legal," you might ask "Given rule <R08-A> and <R08-I>, does this mean that a bumper segment of at least six inches in length is required on each side of an exterior corner of the robot?" I am pretty sure that the second form of the question will be answered (actually, I am pretty sure that it has already been answered multiple times, but some here obviously remain unconvinced).

-dave


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[Madison]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Related to that, the various responses in the Q&A forums have made it pretty clear that reviews of specific designs will not be provided. But you can expect direct questions about how a rule will be applied to be answered. So when posing your question, instead of asking "here is a picture of my design - tell me if my corner bumpers are legal," you might ask "Given rule <R08-A> and <R08-I>, does this mean that a bumper segment of at least six inches in length is required on each side of an exterior corner of the robot?" I am pretty sure that the second form of the question will be answered (actually, I am pretty sure that it has already been answered multiple times, but some here obviously remain unconvinced).

-dave


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Perhaps we might ask instead if "a bumper segment of at least six inches in length is required on each side of EVERY exterior corner of the robot?"

An answer to that ought to quickly affirm whether or not the bumper arrangement surrounding A and B is legal. Or, maybe not.