Inflatable bumpers

how hard do other robots hit? does stuff really break that much?

We try to make our robots soft and fluffy

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This would be a great year for a wookie robot

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FRC is a full contact sport. Battlebots strategies are ruled out by G25, but note that this specifically only limits interaction inside the frame perimeter. While the percentages depend on where you are (some regions are far higher D than others), you should fully expect that you will be rammed by an opposing robot moving at the maximum speed it can attain, both bumper-to-bumper and on any other mechanism you extend outside the frame perimeter.

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Keep in mind the field layout. Not only will defense give you heartburn, but also human error/operation error when driving in match. The field is “cluttered”, if you will, and this will result in teams ramming into structures. I’m not saying this would cause permanent damage to bumpers but . . . 4 Falcon drivetrain at 100% run speed with a gear ratio of 1:8.4 won’t end well. Again just to show you what I mean but still.

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On a serious note if you are looking for noodles this time of year, 548 ordered from Oriental Trading Company, https://www.orientaltrading.com/pool-noodles-a2-13732160.fltr . $50 with free shipping for like 4 years of noodles.

If you need pool noodles, ask other teams if they can give you some.
If this is a meme, OK.

I fully expect team Yeti to be renamed temporarily to team Wookie. I mean, their robots are already furry.

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For those serious about picking up pool noodles, try a pool supplies shop such as Leslie’s. They have locations across most of the U.S. The manager of store nearest me was willing to order in a case of pool noodles from the warehouse and give us a bulk discount if they did not already have a case in the store.

Filled with hydrogen for an overweight robot…?

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Bumper weight doesn’t count towards robot weight.

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Maybe the OP can incorporate part of one of these into each bumper section… :wink:

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You’ve finally found the one thing mcmaster-carr doesn’t carry. Well done!

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Don’t have much time to look at the rules, but wouldn’t this violate the rule that restricts what type of stored energy can be on the robot?

Not if you can convince your inspector that it is both a pool noodle and a very wide, small diameter pneumatic tire.

Everyone seems to have forgotten to point to fig. 9-6, the cross section drawing.
Thanks for the mental exercise though.

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Had to do some hard thinking on this one. I think it comes back to R24, part c:

and must be the same diameter, cross-section, and density

The figure doesn’t have labels for dimensions or materials on the noodles, so one could argue that the cross section in the middle of an inflatable pool noodle matched the drawing - a hollow area surrounded by a material of undefined thickness.

But those few words from part c… that’s where it gets you. The ends of the inflatable noodle, where the sides curve in an meet to enclose it, do not have the same cross section as the rest of the noodle. Clever :slight_smile:

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Would that not count as a “beveled end,” also in part C?

image

Back before bumpers, robots literally traded paint, and were covered in battle scars that could all be traced back to specific matches / robots. Often times, one had to resort to percussive maintenance to bring the robot back into proper functionality, which often was simply having only one of the two sides of your drive train operating during any given match. (It was the style at the time).

Even worse hits required pit crew members to run around like headless chicken, in a vain search for the ever-elusive TIG welder.

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But is a rectangular wheel a wheel?