What materials do you most commonly use on your robots?

[MichaelBick]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

So, it's not really so much that 80/20 can't be used well on a final robot so much as there is a lot of potential for it not to be used well compared to other materials. Also, did I mention it's heavy?

It's all about what allows you to build the quickest. Match drilling tube works well, as long as you have the resources to make gussets. However, not all teams have the resources. In this case, 8020 provides a quick and easy method to making parts, that uses resources available to the team. Furthermore, teams with limited resources cannot afford to remake parts. Instead, 8020 affords teams the ability to iterate without using up more machining resources. Lastly, even though it is heavy, 8020 allows teams to build robots effectively with a chopsaw and drill press. I'd much rather have a robot with 1 mechanism that works at 100% than 2 mechanisms that work at 50%.

8020 can be used effectively, and there is no need "nudge things around" if you "know where everything should be". Any material can be used incorrectly, but this does not make the material inherently bad.