The Chassis Project.

[Madison]

Thank you everyone who's replied. I am reading with great interest.

I'm going to attach a screenshot of my first "draft," made before receiving your feedback. Given what you've each said, I'm probably going to scale back a bit, potentially switching to the use of extrusion.

I was hesitant to use extrusion in the first place because it failed where I used it for the 2002 season. But, as someone mentioned, that robot was involved in a series of high speed collisions -- ultimately resulting in many sheared pieces of Bosch 30x30. Additionally, I find extrusion to be expensive and limiting, and am not thrilled with its fastening systems.

The concept that drove the creation of this original chassis was a lot of what I outlined above. There's extra surface area on the back wheels for added potential traction across carpet and other uneven surfaces. If the playing field is, for example, entirely HDPE, the extra wheelsets can be removed. The lexan platform along the bottom serves as an electrically isolated electronics mounting surface. It also adds some structural rigidity across the beams running the length of the chassis. The aluminum top shelf is an open space for mounting additional mechanisms and adds more structural strength. It can be holed and milled out as necessary to reduce weight, etc.

The channel that comprises the main part of the structure is designed to be pseudo-modular, assuming the machining capability to add the shown holes. It will feature uniform hole patterns to accept standard bearing plates. This will allow teams to add axles whereever they'd like along the robot's length among other things.

The front wheels are non-existant. I had intended to specify omniwheels and 4WD chain drive, but am now considering leaving it as is and letting teams decide on a solution themselves, whether it be omniwheels, additional Bead-Lok wheels, or castors. Of course, if the machining capability is available, omniwheels would be my preferred choice.

Feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: Of course, there's every chance I might make more than one design in the end, too.