Lignin fiber matrix (wood) as a chassis material

[Mark Sheridan]

I have to say sorry to 1771, our team was confused by your use of wood. We had no understanding of how well engineered its construction.

There was a team in Archimedes that also had a wood robot. I forget their number but their arm was fairly obvious that it was really well made and an enormous amount effort went into it. That robot changed out perspective on what you can do with wood. From the description of your chassis construction, so have you.

This is a lame excuse for casting judgment before knowing the truth, in my past encounters with wood robots, I have seen their frames battered and broken. I have seen their frames split apart at the joints. This was before bumpers, so maybe having bumpers helps. Though I think the real reason was they were nailed together instead of having proper glued joints.

I have to agree, that paint helps any robot look better.

I find this amusing in retrospect, I observed my students hesitance to use wood even in prototypes, its amazing how they go immediately to the polycarbonate sheets.

Thanks for sharing this information. Any chance you have pictures of your frame?