Is Welding Worth It?

[jeremylee]

We had problems in past with riveted joints coming loose over time. We have since switched to Avex 1661 series rivets in 5/32 and 3/16 sizes with proper sized drill bits that we keep stored in our rivet box. The 1661 series seem to be more forgiving related to misalignment and pull the material together very tight before snapping maintaining strong joints throughout the season. We didn't have any issues all year with our rivetted VersaChassis and we will likely use the same approach going forward.

However, if we had the ability to weld, we'd likely utiize it to simplify our construction in key areas of the robot.