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Originally Posted by superbeano2004
I was curious on what is the best material for building a frame for a robot. Last year, we used 1" aluminum tubing and it did well but it was difficult to weld and it was not as strong. I see other teams using extrusion tubing and I was also curious on why extrusion so good. Thanks for your help!
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One of my favorite materials is the 1 in square aluminum tubing but you don't weld it together. There are a number of sources of reinforced nylon connectors that insert into the ends of the tubing and lock it together. For extra strength you can drill through the assembly and reinforce with a pin, rivet or bolt. The connectors come in a variety of shapes and are nearly indestructible. Our 2002 robot Silver Scorpion was made of this material and it still runs like a champ. And believe me, our robots have been flying bricks that take a real beating on the field.
Team 25 has been playing around with different frame materials for the last few years and we've ranged from 1/4 in aluminum sheet shaped and cut out through the tubinig and extrusion, aircraft foam ( remember 1997?) and plywood. The plate works pretty good but you need to assemble the layers with spacers and lots of screws. In essence we make a set of modular drive trains that are bridged by a simple cross frame and lots of screws. Take out 20 screws and a few electrical leads and the whole side of a robot is replaced in ten minutes. We hold drills with the kids in building the gearboxes from piles of parts much the way the army trains soldiers to assemble their rifles.
Extrusion is what we are looking at for this season, just to try it out. Our friends at 1089 used it last year and it worked well despite the exorbitant cost for the connectors. My BMS engineers have been talking about it and they seem to have an idea in their heads - January is coming soon!!
BTW- we have found that bolting parts together rather than welding gives the robot a bit of flexibility when it takes a hit. You can always replace a lost bolt but have you ever tried to fix a weld in aluminum in the pits? Ouch.
WC
