Operator Protective Structures (ROPS, COPS etc)

There can often be confusion here in New Zealand about the acronyms used for the various operator protective structures. The most widely used term is ROPS (roll over protective structure). This is a protective frame that has been designed by an engineer and physically tested to confirm that it meets the requirements of the relative standard. In New Zealand, because we are such a small market, we very rarely if ever physically test ROPS frames because of the expense involved in building the frame and then effectively destroying it (the frames become unfit for duty once permanently deformed). Instead we use a numerical analysis method called FEA (finite element analysis) to model the load scenarios and non-linear response of the frame. It's for this reason that we have to make this distinction in the naming convention and certify our frames as COPS (cabin operator protective structure) which is a New Zealand designed and built ROPS. They're designed to the same standard as a ROPS frame but are called COPS instead.