our team used latches to connect the bumper to the robot, but it simply was not strong enough to hold the bumper.
do you have any good suggestions for the bumper attachment?
There are many good ways to mount a bumper, latches could work can we get a picture of how your bumper latched?
Well, there are latches
Rannb Toggle Latch Mini Size Stainless Steel Latch Catches Clamp for Toolbox, Cases, Chests - Pack of 10 - - Amazon.com
and there are latches
5Pack 2000lbs Toggle Clamp 431,Heavy Duty Toggle Latch Clamp for Latch Lock,Self Latch Toggle Latch Action Lock for Tire Carrier Latch,Smoker Lid Latch,Cam Clamp Latch Pull Latch,Draw Latch Hardware. - - Amazon.com
and quite a few in between and on either side. As @Drakxii notes, how you mount them matters. For example, draw latches really only hold well in the direction of the draw.
(Though personally I like having threaded studs on the robot that pass through a flange/angle/bracket on the bumper and securing with wing nuts.)
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Presumably you have these on four sides (3 per bumper if split)? Otherwise it seems like w/ that frame design a high hit could bend the bracket (eventually your chassis). Proof is in the pudding if it’s been working though!
We use Dzus 1500 latches and they have worked great.
This is a solution I’ve used before that I liked. We used little delrin blocks with slots milled out of them. Then we matched drilled the holes into L-channel for a quick release pin.
Look up the Plummer Industries ones that were included in the KOP this year. We are using them this year and they are awesome.
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We use Dzus fasteners
https://www.jegs.com/i/Collector+Tethers/093/4010-650E-B/10002/-1
They work fairly well. They hold on but alignment is sometimes a tad difficult. We will probably stick with these until we find something better
These are simple and work very well. Highly recommended.
We have 4 latches total, with full-cover bumpers. Our bumpers entirely wrap around the robot and have no bumper cutouts. We use two latches on the wheeled sides of our robot (2 latches per side), vaguely in the middle. Our robot is 29in long, and the latches are 15 inches apart from each other.
You can lift our robot directly from our bumpers. The latches don’t sustain much damage between events, but after 2 or 3 events they can get damaged and come apart. Since they’re cheap home depot latches, we just bring spares for if this happens.
Be sure to use the stainless steel, not the zinc latches from home depot! The painted cast zinc latches break after one robot impact and while they still hold the bumper down, they become very difficult to use.
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If you’re have strength or reliability problems, bolted connections will be the strongest. We bolt through plates on the bumpers into nuts captured in the drive base frame tubes.
Going to have to let you know about one of our sponsors - Manly Innovations. They donated their quick release fasteners and they are awesome!
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In this thread I explain our bumper mounting solution. It makes putting the bumpers on and off very easy. So far they have worked great.
We used to use the Andymark bumper attachment kit, but putting in the long bolts was a pain in the …, so this year we switched to the Robopromo stud plate kit and have found it to work way, way better. At Warren Hills, we had a lot of 3-match turnarounds in which we couldn’t even go back to the pit before re-queueing. With our old bumpers, we would’ve been in a total panic; with the new Robopromo kit, we were able to quickly switch bumpers in queue in as little as 3 minutes.
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