Chassis-Team 772 2011 offseason

[akoscielski3]

My dad's company has a water-jet machine (they are our biggest sponsor, higher than GM), and he also told me that we could get it laser cut, from a different company. we are planning on building it before kick-off, to prepare grade 9's and other new students.

[roboticsgoof95]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

My dad's company has a water-jet machine (they are our biggest sponsor, higher than GM), and he also told me that we could get it laser cut, from a different company. we are planning on building it before kick-off, to prepare grade 9's and other new students.

LUCKY!!!!!!!!!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

My dad's company has a water-jet machine (they are our biggest sponsor, higher than GM), and he also told me that we could get it laser cut, from a different company. we are planning on building it before kick-off, to prepare grade 9's and other new students.

These tools are great but without a way of bending the sheet you will be up a creek without a paddle. I think (actually, I know) what Pinecone is trying to say is: "Are you designing to your resources?" For example, if you have welding capabilities in house but have to send out parts to be laser cut there is a serious benefit to designing predominantly with welded tube. The key here is iteration and if you can iterate more using tube you will come out with a better product in the end.


(The above is general advice, not being familiar with the OP's team's resources it is there purely for the sake of it being said.)

[akoscielski3]

We have all of those resources. Their shop has sheet metal benders but so does our school. We were deciding if we wanted to rivet the chassis together or weld it. The laser cut is not a definite thing, we can either get them laser cut or water-jetted. either way i would be able to give them the print in the morning and by the end of school we would have chassis parts

The company builds the assembly lines for cars, so they have alot of different machines, its not just a little specialty shop for welding or sheet metal.

EDIT: we did a tube chassis last year that they welded for us, we are gonna try this one for the offseason and if it doesnt work as well (resource wise) we can go back to tube chassis.

[Akash Rastogi]

Post up a higher resolution picture please. I think I see a few issues with the frame, but don't want to comment unless I can confirm with a closer look. A lighter background would be nice as well.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Post up a higher resolution picture please. I think I see a few issues with the frame, but don't want to comment unless I can confirm with a closer look. A lighter background would be nice as well.

I uploaded another one but this one may not be better. It may have better resolution. I dont have solidworks working on the computer im on right now. I need to reinstall it. As soon as that is fixed i will upload a better image

[Akash Rastogi]

Thanks, the PDF was better.

Alright so first things first, looks like you've got a solid overall design, now it just needs some adjustment.

Start by making the front and back plates outside of all the sideplates. This will allow you to make your driverail plates all symmetrical parts and you'll only need two unique parts for this frame (1. front and back, 2. driverails). After you make all the siderails just one part, you can sandwich them all between the front and back, unlike your current design.

Next up, you could add flanges to the bottom portions of the siderails for added strength instead of just on the top and sides.

After that, you'll want to make the mounting holes for all the parts so you can rivet/bolt however you see fit. If you're waterjetting or lasercutting, you don't neccessarily need to add filets to each of the trusses but you will definitely need filets for any pocketing surrounding bearing/mounting holes. So you might as well filet all the trusses.

Once you've got those things down post up an update. Looks like you're getting there.

[Akash Rastogi]

I urge you to read through all the posts in this thread

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35696

That was the first sheetmetal chassis I tried to make, so the information people posted in there is very valuable, I know it helped me a ton. Since then, I've been lucky enough to learn from people like James Tonthat, Sean Cantrell, all of JVN's CAD as well as from my current employer about sheetmetal design.

[Madison]

You could also save a bunch of material by getting rid of the trapezoids at the bottom of each side plate. Move the axle holes and transmission mounts upward some; this will reduce your ground clearance and make it easier to mount bumpers in the typically legal bumper zone.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Madison

You could also save a bunch of material by getting rid of the trapezoids at the bottom of each side plate. Move the axle holes and transmission mounts upward some; this will reduce your ground clearance and make it easier to mount bumpers in the typically legal bumper zone.

I missed this post by Madison, but I totally agree with it. Unless the game requires climbing something, you can do away with the bottom trapezoids and just move everything up about an inch and a half. Something similar to this

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

I urge you to read through all the posts in this thread

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35696

That was the first sheetmetal chassis I tried to make, so the information people posted in there is very valuable, I know it helped me a ton. Since then, I've been lucky enough to learn from people like James Tonthat, Sean Cantrell, all of JVN's CAD as well as from my current employer about sheetmetal design.

Thanks I read through the thread. And yea it help me understand some other things.

And i have to admit i thought that was a picture of the real chassis

[akoscielski3]

As you may have noticed, there are no sprockets for chain yet (mainly cause i wasnt done). but after reading a few threads regarding chain vs belts, it made me wonder, which one i should choose. I read the page about chain vs belt, but would belt be that big of an advantage for FRC teams? Should I try using belts for the prototype or stay away from them?

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by akoscielski3

As you may have noticed, there are no sprockets for chain yet (mainly cause i wasnt done). but after reading a few threads regarding chain vs belts, it made me wonder, which one i should choose. I read the page about chain vs belt, but would belt be that big of an advantage for FRC teams? Should I try using belts for the prototype or stay away from them?

There's no harm in trying something new. The big advantages can be less maintenance once installed and weight savings.

[akoscielski3]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

There's no harm in trying something new. The big advantages can be less maintenance once installed and weight savings.

Im guessing i should put them in the design first then decide from there lol

I'll update the design next week, im not home for the weekend.

[Aren Siekmeier]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

There's no harm in trying something new. The big advantages can be less maintenance once installed and weight savings.

Belts also require quite a bit more planning ahead, but you obviously are doing that already with the sheet metal, so it wouldn't take much to design for them instead of chain.