How are bellypans made?

[DampRobot]

My team mounts electronics with Velcro on a 1/8" plastic base plate (I'm not sure if it's ABS or polycarb off the top of my head). This year, the plastic plate was held to the frame with more Velcro and (rather ugly) plywood struts to keep it from flexing.

By "Belly Pan", I assume you mean to put electronics on?

Originally Posted by DampRobot

My team mounts electronics with Velcro on a 1/8" plastic base plate (I'm not sure if it's ABS or polycarb off the top of my head). This year, the plastic plate was held to the frame with more Velcro and (rather ugly) plywood struts to keep it from flexing.

By "Belly Pan", I assume you mean to put electronics on?

Bellypan usually has electronics on it, but it's generally the bottom part of the robot with cut cross sections into it.

[Gray Adams]

We tried some 1/8" aluminum laser cut for us (rev A had serious warping, although rivets fixed it. They built a fixture of some sort for rev B). It works pretty well if you use nylon screws to attach your electronics. I hear the new cRIO is coated so that it's non-conductive, but it's fairly easy just to toss a thin sheet of plastic underneath. We had to cut out our belly pan due to weight constraints though, and now our electronics are sitting on some 1/8" lexan.

[R.C.]

We do ours like like Pink -> 254 -> 968 etc...

Basically 6061 - T6 Aluminum @ 1/8th thick.

We basically start off by making the diamonds, then adding elc holes/cutouts into it. Finish the CAD, send it off to a laser guy and its all g2g from there.

-RC

[GRT808]

We do ours like like Pink -> 254 -> 968 etc...

Basically 6061 - T6 Aluminum @ 1/8th thick.

We basically start off by making the diamonds, then adding elc holes/cutouts into it. Finish the CAD, send it off to a laser guy and its all g2g from there.

We do basically the same. 6061-t6 0.125" (our t shirt cannon is .1875, but that is over kill)

In our CAD we started with the sheet, then patterned diamonds, then spaces for sprockets, gearboxes, and then holes for mounting electronics. Takes about 45 minutes on an OMAX waterjet.

[Gray Adams]

Originally Posted by GRT808

We do basically the same. 6061-t6 0.125" (our t shirt cannon is .1875, but that is over kill)

In our CAD we started with the sheet, then patterned diamonds, then spaces for sprockets, gearboxes, and then holes for mounting electronics. Takes about 45 minutes on an OMAX waterjet.

We did 5052 because we put a few bends in it. I'm sure 6061 would have been ok too, but 5052 is a good option, especially depending on what's available in terms of stock and what you're doing to it.

[s_forbes]

If you don't have access to waterjet/CNC facilities, you could just stick a thin aluminum plate on the bottom. The NERDS used .060" Aluminum for a bellypan in 2008; nice and sturdy with lots of real estate to attach stuff.

1/4" plywood works wonders, lightweight and cheap! currently my material of choice for something like an electronics board/bellypan. We're sporting quite a bit of plywood on the Falcons' robot this year.

We played with some mystical Boeing honeycomb composite material this season, glued between two sheets of paper (yes, like printer paper). Extremely light and stiff. The plywood was faster and easier to use though, so it won out. Maybe next year...

[Hawiian Cadder]

We use a material called verolite which is what greenhouses are made out of, it is essentially corrugated polycarbonate. We choose this material for several reasons

.5 inches thick (roughly) means that despite being incredibly light, it has excellent rigidity.

2.17 per square foot from our supplier makes it substantially cheaper than other materials.

It is non conductive, machinable with wood shop tools, doesn't splinter or crack(it is spry enough that it would take an enormous amount of force to reach its ultimate yield point.

our dual belly pans(one on top of the other) weigh < .1 lbs each, and the 15mm thick variety of verolite that we use is stronger than half inch thick particle board by far, and although it flexes more it has higher ultimate yield properties than almost any type of plywood.

This year almost 2 full 4*12 sheets made it onto the robot.

http://www.emplastic.com/images/library/BC_Twinwall.jpg

Originally Posted by R.C.

We do ours like like Pink -> 254 -> 968 etc...

Basically 6061 - T6 Aluminum @ 1/8th thick.

We basically start off by making the diamonds, then adding elc holes/cutouts into it. Finish the CAD, send it off to a laser guy and its all g2g from there.

-RC

Where to do you get yours? Can the 6061 be waterjetted instead?

[sdcantrell56]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

Where to do you get yours? Can the 6061 be waterjetted instead?

Any metal supplier will have 6061 sheet. Yes a waterjet works the same.

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

Any metal supplier will have 6061 sheet. Yes a waterjet works the same.

Thanks!

[Chexposito]

Last year we used a honeycomb fiberglass, the only problem was that some adhesives, such as Velcro tape, did not stick well. You can drill holes for support but you must have washers along with the nuts for the bolts.

[Chris Fultz]

We use this for mounting electronics and other materials. Lightweight, easy to mount to, easy to work with -

http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0836.htm