But even more important than that… finally… bumper rules that achieve the goal without being needlessly restrictive. Chamfer the corner? Mitre the corner? Who cares?
Round noodles, star noodles, solid or hollow? Doesn’t matter.
“1346” or “13 46”… doesn’t matter so long as it’s clear what your team number is!
3/4" Plywood, or a nice solid piece of maple as your bumper backing? Doesn’t matter. (Just avoid particle board and such that won’t take the impact… and no, I’d never waste a nice solid piece of maple as bumper backing.)
Thank you, GDC. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
Jason
P.S. Okay… maybe the bumper rules aren’t actually “more important” than the fact that it’s an awesome game… but they make me happy.
There is no prohibition against splitting Team numbers onto different sections of BUMPER. The intent is that the Team’s number is clearly visible and unambiguous so that Judges, Referees, Announcers, and other Teams can easily identify competing ROBOTS.
That was my biggest gripe last year. So glad they corrected it. And now there is more tolerance with wood and numbers and stuff. Thanks GDC!
Because lights can fail? What my team did last year was have a single set of bumpers where the fabric can fold up or down and it is sewn so that it changes color depending on the direction.
It’s actually not that hard from a control perspective. The FMS knows which teams are on which alliances, so it’s not difficult to implement a small piece of code to turn on the LED to either red or blue.
To reiterate Jason’s eloquently stated appreciation…“Thank you BDC! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”
Last year our team seemed to spend more time adhering to the letter of the law with respect to the bumpers than ANY other part of the robot! You’d think that something so simple should not pose a problem–wrong. We had modify on the spot to pass inspection because we measured 8" from outside corner of the bumper and not the inside corner as we were supposed to.
Thank goodness that GDC (and BDC) listen to people.
The small committee consisted of experienced team members, rookies and inspectors led and coordinated by First staff. We made a suggested list of items for GDC review and approval. So thanks to the GDC and First staff for taking action on the list provided.
Did you have any input on the new robot size rule? While I didn’t have a problem with the old 28"x38" rule, I can see a certain elegance in having a perimeter based rule.
I wonder if the perimeter was reduced slightly to ensure that no one accidentally built a robot too big to fit through a standard door? Or perhaps just to give teams a reason to do a bit of redesign on previous years’ and off-season drive trains? I like it when long-established rules are tweaked slightly… it is a very practical reminder that just because something was a rule for over a decade doesn’t mean it will be a rule in future years!
Anyway, the bumper changes are great. I still have to read the rest of the rule book, though… now I’ll be looking for other clever changes!
Jason,
I did not have any input on the size. I believe that the GDC decided this on game primarily. Changing aspect ratio allows teams to design stability for climbing the tower and for other parts of the game. As a result, shipping has been been reduced, in both weight and volume. I like the sizing box because all teams get to see that a robot fits or does not as does the scale. It takes the ambiguity out of that part of inspection. However, as we take a more active role in training inspectors and improving communication among key volunteers and officials, teams have come to trust that the rules of the competition are explicitly followed on and off the field. I hope!
::safety::