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Unread 04-05-2011, 13:30
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Mark Sheridan Mark Sheridan is offline
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Re: Lignin fiber matrix (wood) as a chassis material

Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamHeard View Post
I wasn't criticizing wood, just clarifying a point. Too often I see students on here catching onto phrases/ideas they've seen and repeating them without ever questioning their validity (the drop on 6wd is awful, etc...).

Personally, when I look at a team the thing I admire most is that team using their unique resources as best they can to create the best machine they can. If a team can build a better robot out of wood, cool! Just because aluminum is the best choice for my team (and I'd wager a good deal of teams), does not mean I'd claim it's the best choice for all teams.

I'd stress that young designers focus more on GOOD design than material choice. There is no magic material out there; every material has a useful application, and what will determine success of a design far more than material, is the quality of the design itself.
Just to elaborate on your point. If two frames that are perfectly designed, the aluminum one will be lighter than the wood one.

Now for teams, like mine, who don't have ideally designed frames, will have ones that are not lighter or stronger than the wood frame. This whole topic fascinates me because we build aluminum frames without a metal shop; yet we work in a fully equipped wood shop. We weld our own frames without a welding table, so there are quality issues. I realize that our woodshop is a powerful unused resource.

I feel there are a lot of teams that work out of a wood shop instead of a metal shop that ought to take a look at these teams.
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