3D Printed Parts on an FRC Robot?

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

I've been toying around with the idea of using 3D printed turret parts. I generated a large (either HTD or GT2) sprocket, put a hole in it and split it into 6 sections. Those six sections get 3D printed and then bolted onto aluminum.

Check out screenshots here (obviously I need a gearbox on the lower section to drive the belt, but that wasn't part of this exercise):
http://imgur.com/a/0ZGUS

I had one of the sections printed up by shapeways with their white, strong & flexible material (the section isn't flexible at all, they only call it that for thin parts). It's really just a nylon I believe. We had 3mm GT3 belt at our shop that seemed to mesh fine with the section, though I am a bit concerned that the printed part seems to be very slightly undersized, so if I stuck 6 of them together, I'm not a fan of how those errors are going to stack up and possibly ratchet my belt.

What machine did you use to cut the two (presumably) aluminum rings?

If you lasered or waterjetted the plate, you can cut gearteeth directly into it and skip the printing portion.