pic: Bumper idea - legal?

[O'Sancheski]

that is exactly what team paragon did... they are the coolest bumbers we have ever had

[JesseK]

For the teams that tried this idea -- did the bumpers pass inspection and how well did they work?

[Cynette]

Absolutely! It was fun with the first weigh-in for our team. We put the red covered bumpers on the scale and the inspector said, "I need to see the blue ones, too." One of our team mentors, who was standing there, turned to a team member and said, "Go get the blue bumpers." The team member got a very confused look on his face. He turned to go and then turned back and said, "Wait, we only have one set!" Then it was the mentor's turn to look confused!

Our only problem with them was in Atlanta when the robot hooked on the robot gate with the bumper with enough force to pull the velcroed flap open to expose the other color. The drive team made sure to take an extra few seconds after that to make sure the cover was pulled tight and the velcro pieces aligned. Compared to some of the saggy bumper covers we saw, the two sided ones were much more elegant!

[RMS11]

I would love to see some pics if any team has them!

[Cynette]

Originally Posted by RMS11

I would love to see some pics if any team has them!

Here is Rolling Thunder's Thunderfoot with the red-side fabric on the outside: 1511 Red Bumper,

and with the blue-side out: 1511 Blue Bumper.

You could tell the double sided bumpers by the tell-tale horizontal seam along the centerline of the bumpers.

(Can you tell what pose is my favorite for our robot? )

[RMiller]

Originally Posted by Cynette

Here is Rolling Thunder's Thunderfoot with the red-side fabric on the outside: 1511 Red Bumper,

and with the blue-side out: 1511 Blue Bumper.

You could tell the double sided bumpers by the tell-tale horizontal seam along the centerline of the bumpers.

(Can you tell what pose is my favorite for our robot? )

Those look really good!

[bscharles]

Ya our team did the same team. I think that the bumper covers were too loose looking

[kgzak]

Our team did the same thing. It was so easy to switch between bumpers. We went out to get on the field after we were working on the robot. Our bumpers were the wrong color and a volunteer said, "You guys have the wrong bumpers on! You need to change them!" We switched colors before she could finish her sentence.

[Peter Matteson]

You can see our version of these bumpers here:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35596

We never had any problems with them and the field crew loved the fact we made them for them.

One set was far simpler than making two.

Thanks again for the idea.

Pete

[ratdude747]

1747 used that bumper design. when our robot is back, i can get pics of it.

[BEEKMAN]

Originally Posted by kgzak

Our team did the same thing. It was so easy to switch between bumpers. We went out to get on the field after we were working on the robot. Our bumpers were the wrong color and a volunteer said, "You guys have the wrong bumpers on! You need to change them!" We switched colors before she could finish her sentence.

Same with us...at one of our inspections this was the flow of our bumper checking:

1) we show up with bumpers set for blue
2) he tells us to put the red bumpers on the scale
3) we explain that they are the same bumpers, just flipped differently
4) we put our bumpers (still in blue mode) on the scale
5) he tells us he wanteds to weigh the red ones, not the blue ones
6) we have to change them to red to get weighed
7) we take bumpers off
8) he tells us we need to now weigh the blue bumpers......
9) as we swich them over, he still doesnt understand that they are the same bumpers......

[iSquid]

Originally Posted by Cynette

Here is Rolling Thunder's Thunderfoot with the red-side fabric on the outside: 1511 Red Bumper,

and with the blue-side out: 1511 Blue Bumper.

You could tell the double sided bumpers by the tell-tale horizontal seam along the centerline of the bumpers.

Looks real good. Had trouble last year. Only thought about two bumpers, one red, one blue. All four sides were connected. To any team that is thinking about doing that, DON'T (!!!!!!!) , it is a terribly hard sewing job.

[Yalib]

We used this method at the 2012 Israeli Regional and passed inspection just fine. It worked great and was very easy to switch the colors.
if you plan on using one bumper piece to circle the robot than plan the cornres and how the fabric will "bend". Take time to really plan it before you manufacture it..

Video of the switching

[JamesSpencer]

I hope someone hasn't posted this before, but team 2809 has a tutorial on how to make these on our website. http://kbots.files.wordpress.com/201...ble-bumper.pdf. Best of luck to everyone using them, they are super handy.

[orangemoore]

I am not sure that anyone noticed that that update was from two years ago. I an not sure if i am missing something with that or what.