R01 Question: Please save me from welding

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

What do you mean by teeth?

Inspections do not have a number of pass/fail points related to FRAME PERIMETER this year like it would in most years (sizing requirement being the big one, as it has been modified to ROBOT volume configurations in R03.

I don't want to give you incredibly specific instructions/advice because I am a combination of these 3 things:

1) Lazy
2) Stupid
3) Hesitant to provide a straight up-or-down on what to do in your situation as I am not designing your robot and can't fairly parse it over the internet, regardless of how incomplete your post was.

For example, if these nontrivial protrusions rest exclusively in the bumper zone, you MIGHT be able to build your bumpers in an unbreaking line that can cover these protrusions within the gaps provided. But I don't know how your robot size takes into account bumpers within the final volume of the robot, I don't know if these protrusions are within the bumper zone, and I don't know if they occur within the distance of a vertex on your frame perimeter that would require more consistent backing of the frame perimeter.

Chris had some good points if you want to easily spoof it, but chill out, re-read the rules, see if you can get it to fit, then execute or re-evaluate.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Before you break out the welder, there's an easy way to solve this problem. Just shim your robot out with some 1/8" thick spacer at the height of the bumpers! Almost any material will work for this since it will be fully supported by the robot frame behind it - plastic, foam, cardboard even. This will make your frame perimeter slightly larger allowing you to use gussets elsewhere.

It doesn't even need to be full length either, the rules allow sizable gaps.

[Kartoffee]

I fully agree that welding aluminum is tough. You could set your team back by over a week if you mess up. For your team's sake, please outsource it. They'll probably have a professional using SMAW, and the price is worth it. Our team has a sponsor to do it, so maybe look into that for next season.

If you are making an out-of-bag robot also, that could be good experience welding. If you have the resources, then do it since you won't need to wait for parts to return from welding.

Also, welding can be a nightmare if your team doesn't keep a CAD model updated. If your chassis isn't yet permanent, hold it with gussets and brackets. Where you plan to weld, use 5/32 (not 3/16) since they won't be structural.