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Re: Ribbit Rivet...
Ahhh, my favorite subject: Rivets.
We use rivets (pop rivets) on every joint on our robot that connects to sheet metal. Even items that need to be disassembled quickly are held together with rivets. I swear by them. We use 5/32" and 3/16" aluminum rivets with aluminum mandrels. We also use 3/16" alimunim rivets with steel mandrels in certain high load areas. We have used a total of 20 of these "high load" rivets in the last 3 years (2005, 2006, and 2007). We are not using any steel rivets this year. We have approximately 2,500 rivets on our robot this year.
I challenge anyone using a nut and bolt to disassemble and reassemble your bolted joint to beat my students in a timed race with us using rivets. We use a pneumatic rivet gun from Harbor freight. They are a whopping $24 each. They last about 3 seasons and then you have to get new ones.
Attached is our gun in action on a previous robot.
I do not think you need steel rivets, but I have no test data to back that up. I can tell you this: we have never failed even one rivet on our 2005, 2006, or 2007 robots.
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