Acrylic Sheets
 

Hi,

My team was wondering whether we could use Acrylite Acylic sheets on the robot. I found that Lexan and Acrylite were both thermoplastic sheets, but I was just posting here just to be sure.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

I would never use acrylic on my robots. It's impact resistance is just not up to the abuse. I don't even allow it in the lab so it isn't mistakenly used on the robot.


Stick with polycarbonate (lexan.)

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

Seconded. Lexan can defiantly take much more abuse than the acrylic sheets. Lexan can take a full bore robot collision with minor damage while acrylic can be easily cracked if you even try to drill into it.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

Are you asking about FTC or FRC?

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

Stick with Lexan as everyone has suggested. Just a note in forming it. If you "heat soak" it for a while at below thermoform temp, you force out trapped vapor, and eliminate bubbling in the sheet that occurs if it is heated too fast. Experiment and it's appearance will be maintained.:) ::safety::

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

I vote for polycarb, over acrylic. No matter where it's used.

-Nick

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

FRC rules do not allow acrylic (Plexiglass (tm)). Stick with polycarbonate (Lexan (tm)) as it is impact resistant.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

What rule (from last year) forbids it?)

Also, he isn't in FRC, he is in FTC. Different rules.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

Fixed.

For either program, acrylic should never be used, except for some really obscure exception or something. Always always use polycarbonate.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

in FRC you could almost build your whole robot from polycarbonate...right? :)

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

I can think of more than a few roles where acrylic would be suitably strong, such as concealed ball hoppers/dividers or decal backing. Just never use it for anything structural or might otherwise take any shock loads.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

They're really close in price though, if I remember correctly, so wouldn't you go for polycarbonate just because it won't shatter on you?

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

We have had decal backing shattered by another robot. Shards of plastic in your robot can be bad.

Polycarb is generally twice as expensive as acrylic.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

Funny that you say that, especially since you built a crab drive structure out of the stuff.

Re: Acrylic Sheets
 

That's just for prototyping a few plates that need to be milled out of poly that are harder to machine. The piece of acrylic is being used as a place holder.

Any "real" crab module will have zero acrylic in it, and I'm hoping my team's replacing the temporarily acrylic parts of the prototype rather than waiting for competition to build one that's strength testable...