pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Here is a picture of our mini robot that is part of the FIRST portion of the MathAlive! exhibit at the Smithsonian. We were able to include our team number, school and major sponsors.

Thanks David Hoff (FRC 234, PurdueFIRST and FRC 3793) for the photo.

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

That is just plain awesome, great job.

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Oh god, that's so cool, I want to try my hands at this!

What materials and process did you use for making this? What's the scale?

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

It is about 1/3 scale, but not actually 1/3 tall. We had to be under 18" total height.

It is mostly aluminum. The frame and structure is aluminum bar - 1/2" x 1/2" or 1/2" x 1". Most other pieces are made out of solid aluminum material. There is some delrin, some lexan, some plastic, some plastic tubing, and some electrical wire. We tried to use stainless steel connectors everywhere since it will be "on tour" for about 7 years. All of the aluminum material is anodized for protection. The "tube" is a foam craft wreath painted with plastic paint to keep it sealed.

Everything was machined on our mill, lathe or with hand tools and the main structure is welded.

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Wow, that must of taken some patience. Kudos to you and your team for creating this, it's awesome.

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Totally awesome! I love it! :)

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Soo... This should be competition thing, a mini-FRC of sorts. College competition? Change FTC to this? IDK but we need it!

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

The prototype VEX game was a 1/3 replica of that year's FRC game, FIRST Frenzy.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/21174

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

Except that the prototype was played during Triple Play.

Back on topic... I'm kind of wondering why the Rebound Rumble robot wasn't used as the model (or any other Cyber Blue robot). Did they just want 2011 robots, or was it wide open?

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

We built this last October and November, and shipped it to FIRST in early December, before the 2012 game was announced. It was open to us to build whatever we wanted, but when we proposed building a scale model of our 2011 robot FIRST liked that idea. It was also good for us because we had the full size one still intact to use as a reference.

Re: pic: CB234 Miniature Robot at Math Alive - Smithsonian
 

That is awesome. Really, almost adorable.