Bumper sets, skirts, or reversibles?

[bEdhEd]

At the events I've been to, I've seen separate bumper sets, slip-over skirts, and velcro/snap-on reversibles on robots and in pits. I was wondering, what is the most popular option that teams choose for changing colors, and if you have a major reason why, post it!

If you have a different way of changing bumper colors and chose "Other", let us know what it is!

[lethc]

We have two different sets of bumpers we use. We mount them using drop in pins (bolts) for each individual 'side' bumper. We've found that this system works very well. We can change them out in under two minutes!

[bEdhEd]

Team 701 prefers reversible Velcro bumpers. We do this so we do not use any space in the pit for another set, and so we do not have to use skirts which can look messy, or can come loose during a match. The nice thing about reversibles, is that we never have to think about which color our bumpers have to be. We usually change colors in queuing, but if we forget, we change them on the field when setting up the robot. We like not having to worry about bumpers that involve extra pieces, like skirts and sets. The only time we ever remove our bumpers is during inspection.

It's so convenient! We can change our colors in less than 5 seconds if we have four people, with one on each side. Probably less than 15-30 seconds for one person. We run our pit crew like NASCAR does in terms of bumpers. Wheel changing? Not so much.

[raptaconehs]

Originally Posted by bEdhEd

Team 701 prefers reversible Velcro bumpers. We do this so we do not use any space in the pit for another set, and so we do not have to use skirts which can look messy, or can come loose during a match. The nice thing about reversibles, is that we never have to think about which color our bumpers have to be. We usually change colors in queuing, but if we forget, we change them on the field when setting up the robot. We like not having to worry about bumpers that involve extra pieces, like skirts and sets. The only time we ever remove our bumpers is during inspection.

This is the same process that Team 3200 has been using for the last 2 years. We found it a large hassle to change out bumpers completly.

[thinker&planner]

Reversables FTW

We would also purposely come with the wrong colors to show off one of the only things that worked really well on our robot...

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by thinker&planner

Reversables FTW

We would also purposely come with the wrong colors to show off one of the only things that worked really well on our robot...

There will always be teams that end up making robots that are short of their expectations, but when your bumpers are the only thing worth showing, the struggle is real!

I can imagine the scenario in the pits:

Judge: So, what part of your robot is your team most proud of, and why?

Student: The fabric. It's nice and soft. Wanna feel?

Judge: *touches bumper* Wow, it is. What's it made of?

Student: Dolphin fur. Imported from North Antarctica. Don't worry, it's tuna safe.

{{{{INSTANT IMAGERY AWARD}}}}

[excel2474]

We're using these reversible bumpers. http://www.robopromo.net/product_p/rp_fb.htm

[Regorek]

We use reversible bumpers, mostly for the speed at which we can change them.

[BBray_T1296]

We use reversible bumpers for the instant changing time (you take 2 minutes, we literally take 2 seconds [120x faster ]) Also we are planning to make a large portion of the structural part of our base frame integral to the bumpers (20 free pounds is a lot of steel!) so removing them is not preferable in that situation. Covers do not work well when your robot has very low bumpers (in 2011 we had <1.5" ground clearance) the cover drags the ground or worse

[CalTran]

Drop the bumpers into t-slots in the side of the frame, lock nut in place once per competition. Then, reversible bumpers means we never have to run back to the pit to grab a forgotten color. Long velcro strips among the top and bottom to attach to - though I'd like to experiment and see if several short strips would hold better.

[gabrielau23]

Originally Posted by lethc

We have two different sets of bumpers we use. We mount them using drop in pins (bolts) for each individual 'side' bumper. We've found that this system works very well. We can change them out in under two minutes!

That's pretty much what we use as well. As he mentioned, change time is pretty fast. Under two minutes every time, if not less.

[bEdhEd]

Originally Posted by gabrielau23

That's pretty much what we use as well. As he mentioned, change time is pretty fast. Under two minutes every time, if not less.

Reversibles are the fastest method I know of. Change colors in a matter of seconds, not minutes!

But I do admit, when teams have two sets that are made really nice, and the fabric is mounted nice and tight, the look is really clean. Reversibles can look clean, too, but you gotta have a person on the team who knows their way around a sewing machine. I remember making these as a student, and they can be a pain in the butt to make correctly, but the pain is worth the worry free color changing.

[RallyJeff]

Whatever you do, make sure it's secure. There's a subtle but important change to the rules this year:

G20
ROBOTS must be in compliance with Section 4.6: BUMPER Rules throughout the MATCH.

Violation: DISABLED

I really, really don't want to have to disable a robot because of a bumper malfunction.

[m1506m]

Velcro reversible is what we did for our summer build. It was my wife and my first time helping mentor a team, and she is almost what you could call a seamstress. She taught the kids how to make the bumpers, and make them look good.

Bolt them on and forget them. Switching from Blue to red can be done in a matter of seconds.

[AndyBare]

I don't know if you can add another poll, but an interesting thing to see would be what teams use vs. what they would like to use.