Chassis weight
 

Hey guys, I was wondering how heavy a robot would be if it was only made of parts from the kit, with nothing but the electronics, 2 motors, wheels and battery. Did anyone check for this? Thanks.

Re: Chassis weight
 

We did that, sort of. We used a 6-WD with two sets of chains on each side. Without the battery it weighted ~47 lbs. With just the parts in the KOP i bet it's closer to 40 lbs.

Re: Chassis weight
 

I find that hard to believe when the frame itself is 17 lbs if you use every piece. heck the Transmissions + CIM's are close to 6 lbs each.

Re: Chassis weight
 

Our chassis (non-kitbot, fully custom) with no transmissions or anything is 17lbs. With transmissions and two CIMs total it feels much closer to 35lbs.

Re: Chassis weight
 

We weighed ours with a chassis, 4 wheels, 2 sprockets, 2 gearboxes, and no electronics and it came out around 26 lbs. No battery, only 2 cims. So factor in battery weight and whatever the weight of the electronics panel would be and it probably will run up to around 45 lbs.

Re: Chassis weight
 

If you're thinking about what your robot will weigh fully built, remember that the weight of the battery is not included in your total weight at inspection.

Re: Chassis weight
 

Ours is with battery, electronics board, 2 normal 2 small wheels, 2 gearboxes, I don't remember the sprockets. It is 46 Ibs.

Re: Chassis weight
 

We finished our frame yesterday at 11.5 lbs

Re: Chassis weight
 

Our completely finished uber beefy drivetrain with motors and electronics is right around 50lbs

Re: Chassis weight
 

our drivetrain when we finish it was at 55 lbs that was with electronics, supershifters, six wheels, etc....

Re: Chassis weight
 

Our frame is 10.75 lbs.

The complete, operational drive train, save 12V battery, is 35 lbs.

Re: Chassis weight
 

How and why do some teams make the drivetrain so light? It would seem that it would hurt the CG a lot.

Re: Chassis weight
 

We make everything as light as possible. Adding weight later is much easier than taking it off. In the ten years that I've been with FIRST, I've had a robot tip over twice.

Re: Chassis weight
 

Don't get me wrong I really love your frames although they are a little thin for my liking...I just think that sometimes people worry about weight in the drivetrain a little too much since that is the best place for the weight.

Re: Chassis weight
 

In the two years that I've been in FIRST, our robot has tipped over three times. (We played a lot of defense last year.) But MKrass is right, adding weight is really easy, I wish losing weight was the same.

Re: Chassis weight
 

I think we maybe have flipped 3 times in our 3 years and that was all in our first season, but a lot of that is because of the beef in our drivetrains. Now we do go a little overboard sometimes (last year) but it has good results.

Re: Chassis weight
 

... thinking back fondly to the year we actually had to bolt a 27-pound block of lead on to our robot as ballast.

Too bad FIRST does not still include the "Featherweight In The Finals" award. That was a great incentive!

-dave



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Re: Chassis weight
 

I'm not sure why zyik deleted her post; It was true. Our frame really is 12 pounds. We use extruded aluminum, not the kit frame.

Re: Chassis weight
 

Ok so I went back and looked at our frame and our frame without anything weighs 20.9lbs. It is made out of custom aluminum plate and standoffs. This is also without any lightening patterns so that the machine shop wouldn't hate us too much haha.

Re: Chassis weight
 

potatoarecool started this thread by asking how heavy a chassis made only from material from the Kit of Parts would be.

Re: Chassis weight
 

I completely missed that.... My apologies.

In 2005 when 294 used the KOP frame we saved 1 pound or so removing bits here and there; I've also heard rivets instead of bolts saves a lot of weight.

Re: Chassis weight
 

What is this chassis thing of which teams speak? It seems to be an object which you are able to weigh? I can't find one in our shop yet. :confused:

Re: Chassis weight
 

Can somebody who has done this with the KOP chassis give some idea as to the actual weight savings?

Re: Chassis weight
 

our frame without anything on it weighed 43 pounds :ahh: we are gonna deffinately be cutting it close this year

Re: Chassis weight
 

A chassis normally starts as a sophisticated structure fabricated from Unobtanium, which is quite difficult to see or weigh. Strong, but very flexible and difficult to grasp. Due to design changes and production difficulties in the normal FIRST shop, later iterations usually form out of aluminum, plywood, or other things you've been tripping over, depending on your budget. Near the end of the build period, portions of the chassis usually appear on the floor in the form of chips or sawdust, due to a process called "lightening". This is not to be confused with the phenomenon called "lightning", which is a part of the electrical and control subsystem that occasionally leaks out.