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Unread 04-05-2011, 08:35
Gdeaver Gdeaver is online now
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Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Re: Lignin fiber matrix (wood) as a chassis material

Good. First teams have had a metal addiction for years. I've been trying to get teams I've work with to vary their robot diet to include some fiber. Plywood is a very viable construction material for first robotics. But, mentors should not stop there. Our students do not get a traditional shop education any more. Tech Ed has turned into an arts and craft experience. We need to expose students to the many material choices we have available and teach them how to work with them. Why don't you over the summer put together a white paper on wood and robots construction techniques. Your design and joining methods are why the robot holds up. Share your design methods. This year we used some Birch 5mm plywood and laminated it with 5.7 oz. carbon. We have several students that are now proficient in vacuum bagging. It's not that hard. We also use thermoplastics that are thermo formed and vacuum formed. ( polycarbonate and polypropylene). Fiberglass pultrustions were used for the 4 bar arm. I'm very happy that in a 6 week period our students received the shop education that they should have had in school.