Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamHeard
They are very good at connecting the frames corner to corner in tension. Most other types of loading are handled pretty well with "West Coast Drive" frames.
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While it certainly keeps the robot square I still think that a similar or more effective result could be achieved with some triagular corner brackets and perhaps even corner to corner cables in tension. There is definatly a good deal of bellypan that isn't actually doing much and I would still contend that as a structural piece it is not as efficient as it could be. We built a west coast drive in 2011 and like you said, it handles most types of loading very well. I think if I were to do a west coast drive again I would use a 1/16 waterjeted bellypan to use as a jig when welding and a low electronics mounting point. Because, as you said, the stick frame handles the tortional loads 1/16 should be fine for corner to corner in tension (try pulling apart a piece of sheetmetal, it can be bent, but not stretched or compressed without bending.) As a bonus, lighter material means less pocketing and less machining time.
In any case, it's only my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.
Regards, Bryan