[Tom I]

In 2006 in fact, our robot actually used the belting for our ball gatherer system. This is what I found:

We initially had some of the solid core stuff laying around, so we used it... it was actually pretty difficult to melt though. We used a heat gun to melt the edges and pushed them together and waited for them to dry. The resulting seem was strong, but it was difficult to make, and it required testing to find out how much the joint would shrink/grow from the original cut of the material. We later used the hollow core belts with the barbs. To me this seemed a lot easier. The barbs are simple enough to use, and they allow your loop to be the exact size as the length you cut. We never had a barb pull out in competition, and they were just as strong if not stronger as our weld joints (of course this might have been due to shoddy welding). unless the belting is making particularly tight turns, the barbs should not necessarily be a problem.

Hint for using either type: make your loop first, THEN try looping it around where you need it... I made the mistake of trying to stretch it into place and assemble it my first time... Dont make fun of me, I was a freshman!!