2012 Bumper rule gray area

[rich2202]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Bumper Zone is defined in the Blue Box under [R01], 2 to 10 inches from the floor.

Seems clear on the face of it. Even traversing the bridge, the bridge floor is the "floor", and the 2-10" zone can be maintained at all times.

Times when the 2-10" zone is exceeded:

1) While balancing (especially with 3 bots), when a bot "overhangs" the bridge, is the plane of the bridge floor considered the floor, or is the part that overhangs counted from the arena floor?

2) When traversing the barrier, the barrier can be considered the "floor". But, once you overhang the barrier, is the arena floor now the floor? If you have big wheels, it will lift the front of your bot way above the the zone. It might be in the zone with reference to the barrier, but once the front of the bot clears the barrier, the wheels may still be on the barrier, and the bumper is way out of the zone.

If the barrier is considered the "floor", then it causes a problem when the frame goes over the barrier before the wheels lift the bot. The bumper could have 0" clearance of the top of the barrier.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Rich,
Bumpers are inspected when the robot is on the floor. That is the only logical way to look at them. If a robot turns over, the bumpers do not become illegal simply because they exited the bumper zone.

[R29]
Bumpers must be located entirely within the Bumper Zone when the Robot is standing normally on a flat floor.