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#1
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Coloring a Robot
This is the first year my team has actually found the time to color some parts and i was wondering what methods teams have used in the past and how well they worked. I'd also like to know how hard some things are and how expensive they can be. I hear paint chips and scatches easily and that powder coating can be heavy. We're pretty much interested in coloring our frame and some of the sub compenents, all of which are alluminum. Would anodizing work well? Any pictures would be great.
Thanks, Ben Van Selous |
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#2
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Spray painting is light weight, easy and most important cheap. it can get messed up a bit but doesn't that just show character?
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#3
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Re: Coloring a Robot
We always powder coat our frame and some of the bigger parts of the robots. It will add about 3 pounds to the robot, but thats just an estimation. Also with powder coating, it adds about ten-thousands to the dimension to whatever it is on. So if you have close tolerances then that might be a problem. Anodizing is very nice. It is extremely light-weight and doesn't chip or scratch. But the only problem is that you can only do it to small parts.
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#4
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Re: Coloring a Robot
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Thanks, Ben Van Selous |
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#5
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Re: Coloring a Robot
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#6
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Quote:
Ben Van Selous |
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#7
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Yeah we send out for powder coating. We are lucky becuase our school is in a manufacturing district. Actually the second largest in the nation. We also get it done for free. I don't know if you know how powder coating works but you will need the powder and sprayers. You will also need a place to do it and you will need to be able to electricly charge the part you are coating. If you can do that then are set.
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#8
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Re: Coloring a Robot
We have a powder coat with high gloss. Black and gold of course
Getting it painted should probably be done by a professional. If you have problems with runs and drips, you could get it on the robot in places where space can be vital. Of course, the problem with getting it painted is that if you ever have to drill, cut or work it up, your going to be very reluctant to mess up such a nice paint job. |
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#9
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Quote:
Please keep in mind that this is a very general overview, since we only started doing this ourselves this year, and haven't quite perfected the process yet. First off, it may be obvious, but you can only anodize aluminum. Any other kind of metal simply won't work with this method. The part should be really well cleaned before, and keep in mind that the anodized layer is so thin that if you leave a bad finish before anodizing, it will show through afterwards. The first step is to immerse the part in a basic solution (2 molar NaOH will do the trick) for a short amount of time. This is known as "etching", and the idea behind this, I believe, is that it increases the surface area of the part on an atomic level, making the aluminum more receptive to the oxygen later on. If your part came already anodized, like extrusion, then leaving it in the basic solution for half an hour or so will remove the anodized layer, if you help it along by wiping every few minutes. The next stage is the actual anodization, in which the part is immersed in a sulfuric acid solution (1.5 molar H2SO4 is what we use). This is done usually by suspending the part with aluminum wire (having any other type of metal in the solution will cause the electricity to flow through it instead of the aluminum). The part gets attached to the positive terminal of a power supply, which is why it's called "anodization". You also need a cathode, which usually is an aluminum plate at the bottom or side of the anodizing tank, hooked up to the negative terminal. We use a 35A manual 12V battery charger as our power supply. The power supply gets turned on, and should be set so that it supplies 4-12 amps per square foot of the surface area of your part. At this current, it usually takes about an hour and a half to anodize a part. What happens during this process is that the water in the solution is electrolyzed, and the hydrogen is released while the oxygen bonds with the aluminum at the anode to form a porous aluminum oxide layer. The following step is to dye the oxide layer to whatever colour you want. Ordinary fabric dye works fine for this, mixed at twice the normal concentration. This takes 15 minutes to half an hour, and during this stage the dye is absorbed into the pores of the aluminum oxide layer. The last stage is the sealing, during which the pores are closed, trapping the colour inside. Some people will use special chemicals to seal their parts, but immersing them in boiling water for a few minutes works just fine. The result of all this is a colourful, slightly matte layer a couple thousandths of an inch thick. If you're considering trying your hand at anodizing yourself, there are some excellent websites which you should consult, such as this one and this one. Good luck with your robot colouring! ![]() |
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#10
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Is that allowed? I thought there was some kind of rule against chemically treating materials for your robot. If this is allowed I will definetly have to try it.
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#11
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Re: Coloring a Robot
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Our robot is going to black/gray. Personally I would want something like bright orange or pink. EDIT: I am looking for the exact rule now... |
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#12
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Re: Coloring a Robot
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#13
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Re: Coloring a Robot
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#14
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Re: Coloring a Robot
Ah, thanks. Sweet, Im gonna try this today on some scraps. Assuming I can get my hands on some chemicals
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#15
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Re: Coloring a Robot
The camera is set to read the colors of the field, therefore a robot that is colored the same color as a part of the field would be considered distracting...
That how I read it, but where is the rule, cause it doesn't fall under <G26>, thats the entanglement rule. |
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