Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
What are the flaws of the current kit frame?
Have you ever had aluminum tubing bend because you directly mounted a bearing in it? I've never seen that problem before. Why not just punch bearing holes in the tube?
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the primary advantage that this has over the kit frame is how adaptable it is, it can support more wheels, more gearboxes, and more manipulators Nativity. the kit frame also weighs more, i don't know exactly how much it weighs, but our cart, which is a kit frame, weights i would guess upwards of 20 lbs, this weighs less than half as much. the kit frame also suffers from rigidity issues, because this uses much larger members, it should hold its shape better, this should prevent the drive train from throwing chains. my last complaint about all of the rapid build options available (kit frame, 80-20) is that they don't tend to stay exactly square. the aggressively sized gussets on this frame should keep it perfectly square, no matter what abuse it takes. i don't dislike the current kit, it just is not quite adequate in my oppinion in terms of flexibility and strength/weight (for the weight of the kit-frame, something much much stronger can be built). That is part of the reason that the holes on this match the ones on the kit, they can be used in tandem.
the reason to use the pockets and bearing blocks is 2 fold
1, the pockets make it much, much, much lighter
2, we like to use dead axles for the outer most wheels, and live axles for the middle two. a bearing hole would not deform the frame, but a .5 inch axle hole would be pretty sketchy.