[BBray_T1296]

We use mainly Aluminum.

For our frames, we use 1" alum box tubing (1/16" walls I think), welded into shape, which leaves an unbelievably strong and fairly lightweight piece. It is difficult to work with though, so I would not recommend our approach to a team just starting into the wonderful world of manufacturing.

On pieces that require utmost strength, like drive-train brackets and our climbing plate, we use 1/8" aluminum sheet metal, laser cut from CAD drawings and bent with a brake.

Depending on other applications, we use thinner and thinner material.

For our hopper, we used .0404, as it is very lightweight and easy to hand repair if we bashed it up a bit. For our main shooter body, we used 1/16" aluminum, which is slightly thicker, because of forces related to accelerating a Frisbee.

I think in 2011, as part of our gripper, we used .0202, but that stuff is basically paper.

For electronics, we bought a large sheet of corrugated plastic (basically plastic cardboard). You can poke through it with a screwdriver, and it is reasonably, but not uselessly, flexible. It is also very lightweight and easy to manipulate with hand tools. (on the cRIO plate in picture 1, we used a polycarb sheet for more strength.)