Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I'll put in a vote for composites as well. Pultruded fiberglass is very rigid, thick stuff with a low density. Fiberglass tubing is great for something like an arm.
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We used fiberglass square tubing (1x1x.125) for an arm this year. It bowed under the weight of our claw (though to be honest, the claw had Banebots gearboxes that were 3 stages too large and 35 chain for a while), and we were always afraid that our bolts would rip through the walls. It happened once, but only with 2 countersunk bolts. We immediately put fender washers on all the other ones and we survived Hartford and CMP. I would be wary about using fiberglass again for an arm. While it might be okay for an upright support or something structural, it doesn't have the strength of aluminum, and we definitely spent every match dreading the moment where our arm would shatter and shower our electronics in powder.
If we had used aluminum, we'd have been overweight and it'd be too heavy for the motor. But honestly, it wouldn't have given us as many scares as the fiberglass did. I think we got pretty lucky, but there were always close calls. If you want to use composites, don't repeat our mistake and remember that they are not metal, no matter how much they act like it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle33199
The biggest way to lose weight... Ask the inspector to take his foot off the scale  |
Just keep your mentor's foot under the scale; that's what we do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhantomPhyxer
Fortunatily programming code does not weigh any thing! (:-)
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Our code extends past the bumper perimeter sometimes.