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Originally Posted by Adams High Man
alright, what are all you people injecting into your air tanks to make your robots 130lb? we are bordering on 130lb, and we barely have anything! our arms are fiberglass, our transmissions weigh 2.5lb. Then i see all metal robots with 6 wheels, big huge gear boxes, and 10' long arms. whats the secret?
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I often wonder the same thing. Besides the team secrets Andy leaked earlier in the thread, here are a few mostly obvious tips off ghe top of my head.
Not all aluminum frame materials are equal. Pick something that is light. This is an area that can make a big difference. Last year we made our bot out of 1.5 in welded aluminum square and we were overweight. This year our robot is at least 4 times more complex and was undereight. We used 1010 series 8020 extrusion. With square round, etc wall thickness is a big factor.
wheels suck weight There is no need for giamongous metal rimmed go-kart tires. Avoid anything with metal rims like the plague.
resist the hive As goofy as this may sound, wires do take up weight, several pounds of it. Avoid hivelike electrical panels, make things as short and neat as possible.
No need for overly beefy gears. I see alot of gears that look like they belong in a bus transmission. avoid gears with hubs. Use keyways, and spacer tubes. We have gearboxes that we direct drive out of with 12.5 in wheels that combine the chips and the drills. They use 8mm wide module 1 hubless steel metric gears and are plenty beefy. Don't be afraid of plastic gears and sprockets either. Timing belts can pften be lighter than chains.
swiss cheese it early you cna save alot of weight and frusteration if you lighten parts from the start. If there is any unnecessary, non-structural material on a part, remove it.
Stay away from oversized fasteners Fasteners take up alot of weight. Use ones that are the right size. IE: not too long not too wide. In some cases if you are really desperate, you ,ight consider going back and replacing things with plastic equivalants. IE: electrical components.