We used plywood and aluminum (bar and angle stock) this year, along with some steel (Tube stuck? Square stock? Little help here?) and the C-channel in the KOP.

We had a robot with a aluminum C-channel chassis, and a half-inch piece of plywood to hold electronics/pneumatics. Our kicker and kicker mounting were made of steel, and we had a plywood-and-aluminum angle stock sticker-ed 'tent' as a roof for the electronics, which, I must say, looked pretty cool.

I found that steel is very hard to cut but very strong and won't bend with any of the impacts we took (even with me driving) Unless you have a circular saw, I'd recommend that you go with aluminum in the pit, because a hacksaw takes considerably longer with steel than aluminum. You have to go slow on a drill, with the speed up high, way high. (careful, the holes get hot then)

Plywood is a piece of cake to cut, but don't use a metal blade for it. Drills go through fine, too, but sometimes get stuck. I wouldn't recommend it for structural material, because it will break reasonably easily and splinter.

For aluminum, a hacksaw with a metal blade works fine, and drills go through on a high speed setting reasonably well. Definitely don't use aluminum bar stock for major structural stuff, because it bends easily (our ball magnet bent it almost three inches back) Angle stock works much better, and looks cleaner.

For all of these, remember to deburr holes and file edges, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't cut them anywhere near electronics!!! We lost a couple of JAGUARs this way! Also, when using screws in wood, make sure not to sink the heads in too far, as this will cause the backside to splinter some times, and make the screws easier to rip out. Don't tighten screws in aluminum too much either, because aluminum bends easily and this could cause the structure to warp.

Hope this helps


Thaine