3990 Robot Reveal T4K/Tech for kids Flappy Bot

[Dewmark]

Here's the link to the reveal video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXH1...ature=youtu.be

We're very proud of our robot this year and we are confident it will allow us to perform to our expectations! We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as we would love to improve with the 45 pound allowance.We will be competing at the New-York Tech Valley regional and at the Montreal robotics Festival regional.
More pictures available:https://www.facebook.com/Team3990

[nxtmonkeys]

That bot looks awesome!


How do you paint the metal like that? I want to do it!

[alexander.h]

Great job! Can't wait to see you guys in Montreal in March!

[minhnhatbui]

Originally Posted by nxtmonkeys

That bot looks awesome!


How do you paint the metal like that? I want to do it!

Powder coating. It is done by "spraying" and fixing the paint powder on the metal with electrostatic, and then heating the pieces so that it stays on the metal. Very durable and more efficient than liquid painting. We had lots of fun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

[Tom Line]

I LOVE the flapping wings.

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by Dewmark

Here's the link to the reveal video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXH1...ature=youtu.be

We're very proud of our robot this year and we are confident it will allow us to perform to our expectations! We would love to hear your comments and suggestions as we would love to improve with the 45 pound allowance.We will be competing at the New-York Tech Valley regional and at the Montreal robotics Festival regional.
More pictures available:https://www.facebook.com/Team3990

Very nice..

Curious about your bumpers though. Since they are not red or blue, I'm assuming you have covers in both colors or separate set(s) of bumpers. I do notice that it looks like your team number seems sort of short, only going from about the center of one noodle to the center of the other, so only about 2.5 or 3 inches when they are required to be 4". Maybe your red/blue solution has a different font/size ?

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by nxtmonkeys

That bot looks awesome!


How do you paint the metal like that? I want to do it!

This robot appears to be black anodized. powder coated. (EDIT: 3990 chimed in above)

Options for colouring your robot's parts include:

Anodizing

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing

An electrochemical process of creating a layer of aluminum oxide on the surface of the metal, that is applied with electric current in a bath. Anodizing is usually expensive to set up, but the more parts you do the less it costs. This is usually because its charged for putting a basket of parts in the bath, and the cost is the same whether you put 1 part or 50 parts into the basket. In the context of FRC applications, anodized aluminum is fairly robust at keeping its colour through rough play, but it can be scratched or abraded off.
Anodizing will show imperfections in the substrate material though, so if your aluminum is scratched, there will be an imperfection in the anodizing there.

Powdercoating

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

Powdercoating is typically cheaper than anodizing, but tends to chip and flake off with continued rough usage. A powder coat finish once breached tends to continue flaking off in big chunks. Its pretty robust until it is breached. Powdercoating is like paint without the solvent that makes paint a liquid. Powdercoating is better than anodizing at hiding flaws in the substrate material.

Painting

Painting your robot parts works too, but you must take care to prepare properly and use the correct type of paints. Using latex house paint, for example, would be a poor choice. Its meant for the relatively tame environment of sticking to drywall and not moving. Using an oil-based paint meant for metals such as Tremclad is a much better option, though paint will still chip and flake off when subjected to the sort of mechanical abrasion that is common in an FRC environment.

[minhnhatbui]

Originally Posted by jvriezen

Very nice..

Curious about your bumpers though. Since they are not red or blue, I'm assuming you have covers in both colors or separate set(s) of bumpers. I do notice that it looks like your team number seems sort of short, only going from about the center of one noodle to the center of the other, so only about 2.5 or 3 inches when they are required to be 4". Maybe your red/blue solution has a different font/size ?

jvriezen, you are correct, they are in no way FRC legal. Black bumpers have been used by our team in the past for demo/sponsors/other events like that. As expected, the blue and red bumpers will have a different writing and be at least 4".

You have an astute and sharp sense of observation

[lynca]

this video and robot is amazing! Nice work , great attention to details and those flappy wings look awesome.

I expect many teams with over the bumper collectors to start adding wings too.

[Akash Shah]

Love the driver station, so many different color lights. But the robot is nice guys, great job!