Re: aesthetic robots
 

I always like team 1730's robots.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

I recall speaking with a team in the Tesla Division that had intended to powder coat their robot but discovered that their design had not taken into account the thickness of the coating so they skipped it. They ended up applying a "brushed finish" that looked like it was applied using a Scotch-Brite pad. Since it consists of a series of randomly oriented fine scratches, scratches don't really show up prominently. It looked sort of like the photo in the link below.

http://www.quickshipmetals.com/decor...-steel-rs.html

Re: aesthetic robots
 

In the past, my alma mater team has had decent looking robots, but we never put in much effort to make them truly beautiful. I'm currently working on creating my first "beautiful" robot. It's an FTC (more like FTC-FRC hybrid) demo robot. Although it looks grey, most of the robot is actually going to be a bright white. The red is going to be a shiny metallic red color. I don't think I've seen teams use this color scheme before, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.
http://i.imgur.com/Icv0yzg.jpg

Re: aesthetic robots
 

Speaking of powder coating/anodizing, we've been spray painting our parts as we make them since 2009, and it works really well.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

What type of spray paint do you prefer? I have heard of teams using enamel based paint in the past.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

This year we powder coated our robot and used led strips all around the bot. While it does look the best out of all we built, it is still a bland and basic design

Re: aesthetic robots
 

I believe it was enamel, though I'll check when I get back to the shop sometime.

We did do in-house powder coating in 2014, and it was definitely more durable, but for other reasons we decided to go back to spray painting.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

The past two years, steel wool, simple green, a garden hose, and some enamel spray paint has worked wonders for my team. It's cheap, quick, and provides a surprisingly good finish that is wear resistant to FRC use. (nothing like powder coating though)

Re: aesthetic robots
 

We achieved a finish similar to this using an orbital sander and some emery cloth pads.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

125 always has both aesthetically beautiful and functionally intricate machines.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

Has anyone ever noticed 2056's shiny finish to their robot
I was talking to them at the GTR East regional this year and apparently they use WD-40 and a palm sander to buff the entire robot (except pneumatics, electronics, sensors and the battery)

Re: aesthetic robots
 

We would use WD-40 and Scotchbrite on the chrome moly tubing of our race cars, especially the roll cage. It looked good. I imagine doing the same to aluminum would look very good as well.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

-2451's 2014, and 2013 IRI robots looked awesome.
-1595 always does a good job with their aesthetic. I got to see their 2014 robot in person, it looked very clean.
-1986's designs have a characteristically aggressive look, which is really cool.

Re: aesthetic robots
 

Wood looks good.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/41762

Re: aesthetic robots
 

192 always looks nice, especially their gearboxes. Their 2014 robot was totally colored in red and black.