80/20 frame Material Questions

[Po-ser]

What is thoughts on the different 80/20 methods of connecting pieces together How has 80/20 worked for you in the past?
Whats thoughts on weld vs. bolt?

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Last year we had a chassis constructed partly of 80/20 and partly of lexan and aluminum plates (I'll try to post a few pictures). It was my job to install our gearshifter, which was basically a plate on which the gearboxes would go that was supposed to attach to the chassis and be able to shift back and forth. We didn't plan for installation of the plate ahead of time, so when it was time for me to go to work, it took hours of squeezing into tight spaces just to attach or detach it. If something had broken with our drive train in the middle of a match, it would have been impossible to fix on time. Ultimately, we had to scrap the gearshifter altogether.

I suppose my warning has to be taken with a grain of salt, since we didn't plan too far ahead with our design and you're already trying to work it out. If your drive train is going to be as simply laid out as the ones in the pictures from the above post, sure, go for it! 80/20 is not ultraheavy and a great material to have on your robot in general. But I will say that the more complicated your robot's "internal organs" get and the more stuff you try to squeeze in there, the more messy dealing with 80/20 might get.