80/20 Inc.

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by JB987

Plenty of teams successfully utilized 80/20 for framing and structural elements this past year and others...341 comes to mind. Contact them for advice?

Actually, 341 used the bosch extrusion.

Originally Posted by Trish Fisher

We have a very young and inexperienced team this year. Not only with robotics, but with fabrication too. Does anyone know about 80/20 Inc? Would this be a good way to go for prototyping and possibly even for the robot? If so, does anyone have a good supplies list that I would need to buy so I don't buy the wrong things or over/under buy?
Thanks! FRC 2240

I have been using 8020 since my freshman year, and it's great in some aspects, and not so great in others.

Pros: Quick. The time between design and implementation/first prototype is generally pretty fast. Things can slide around if the dimension isn't right the first time, and all in all, it usually means less strain on in house resources.

Cons: Weight (Ought to be obvious).
Flexibility - I've found that, at times, 8020 doesn't give me the flexibility I need in design. Or rather, I can get the design I want, however, it yields a result that's clunky, uses way too many gussets, and isn't the most ideal path. In these scenarios, you want to be able to switch over to sheet metal/wood/polycard (the shooter hood from this past year comes to mind).

For a young, inexperienced team as you have described, I'd recommend 8020, but use it cautiously, as teams find that they have room for error, they can get sloppy, which is not good. Additionally, teams lose track of their weight and they end up going pounds over.

As for parts, here's what was a part of our most recent order:
1010-97 - Part number for a 97" piece of 8020. You want to get quite a few of these. A thorough robot might end up using hundreds of inches of 8020.
4132 - These are gussets that allow you to connect inner corners. So if you have two pieces of metal meeting up at a T, then you would use these pieces to connect them. These things tend to be semi-expensive, but you end up using them quite a bit.
4042 - These are little block gussets that can connect pieces that meet at a corner. Expensive ($10/per) little things, but a robot may not use more than 10-15 of them.
3382 - T-Nut inserts are used in the profile to screw things down.
Screws - You can purchase these from anywhere. I'd recommend a local, cheap, bulk source.

Aside from this stuff, you'll have to get what you need. There's some pretty need stuff in the catalog. There are more gussets and connections that you may find useful come the design phase.

Hope this helps,
- Sunny G.