pic: West coast drive design

[Hawiian Cadder]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

1/8 wall tubing isn't that much stronger than 1/16, and at a massive weight penalty.

We predominately use 1/16" wall, and haven't suffered any frame failures the past few seasons on any of our robots (including practice and prototypes), and a lot get really beat up.

I know you're just trying to help, but it can mislead new people when you make such bold blanket statements with such confidence.

Bending is the primary failure mode for frames in FRC, and the bending is directly related to the area moment of inertia. If you do some research on on how this is calculated, you'll see the shape and cross section of the tubing is what grants strength, not the thickness.

Sorry if i have miss-lead anyone, it is not my intention.

as for the failure mode. i would expect that the failure mode for 1/8 inch tube would be bending, however i would expect the failure for 1/16 tube to be bending in or getting crushed. especially if the robot takes a hard hit from the side. i think 1/16 is a LOT easier to parallelogram too.