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Unread 25-05-2011, 01:17
,4lex S.'s Avatar
,4lex S. ,4lex S. is offline
University Mentor
AKA: Alex Strong
FRC #2702 (REBotics)
Team Role: College Student
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Rookie Year: 2004
Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada
Posts: 195
,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of,4lex S. has much to be proud of
Re: Is powder coating and annodizing worthwhile?

Here are the situations I think this is worthwhile in:

1) Your robot is going to be competing on the national stage, and you want to be identifiable and memorable.

2) You feel that having a more professional looking robot will bring in more sponsors/new members/supporters.

In Formula SAE, most teams powder coat their chassis. The reason for this is that the overall basis of our competition is to 'sell' our design for a small production racecar. If we didn't have to sell our design, it would be tempting to ignore it altogether to save a bit of weight and time (every gram counts).

Don't let pretty things distract you from your engineering goals, unless they give you some advantage (if it is a non-engineering advantage, it is just as important).
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FRC 2702: REBotics 2011 Mentor ::: FRC 1006: Fast Eddie Robotics 2005-2009 Alumni ::: FLL 4050: 2004 Alumni