pic: Team 1325 Sheetmetal Chassis 2012

[tim-tim]

Originally Posted by BJC

Is there anything connecting the two chassis halfs besides the back cross piece and the front roller?

I think you need a nice 3/4" plywood bellypan or a nice strong cross member supporting the chassis forward of the middle of the robot -- or both. This robot would have terrible tortional stiffness without something else bracing across it.

Regards, Bryan

I think the OP mentioned that the center support and baseplate were not in this model because the intake/conveyor system was not finalized.

For the most part I would say it looks good. Out of curiosity what bend radius are you using for the .090 5052? Do you plan on riveting or the conventional bolting for this? As someone else mentioned, you may want to add some stiffeners between the wheel channels. I think a few bolts with spacers would work, but would be more work than bent sheetmetal flanges. The flanges required for those are relatively simple and could probably made in house by hand (just another option)

Edit: After looking at 842's frame picture, it lead me to another option. You could also use a series on small "L" angle and flat sheet