Does any one know the way that Hammond (71) cushioned the fall of their robot last year? did they use springs or something else? or did they even have a way of cushioning? it would be helpful to know this(maybe) 
They used gas springs from small-parts. However, last year you could only get things from small-parts.
This year you can get things from almost anywhere and get almost anything. Iām not sure what kind of gas spring would perform the best for our limited weight we use (130lbs). It also depends on how much force will be impacted on the springs.