pic: FRC 1771 Concept Drivetrain

[AustinSchuh]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

I am assuming you did not have bumpers in the front where the metal was being bent?

Correct. We couldn't put bumpers up there because we wouldn't be able to get close enough to the ball to grab it and stay in the 80 " rule.

And our driver would consistently end up ramming the bot into the corner of the center divide at full speed at least once per match.

[Big Ideas]

1/4" plate can be hard to mate with sheet metal. If you're working with a sheet metal house there should be spot weld ability. I you need more local material you can make doubler plates and spot weld them to the main plates. This is particularly useful if you needed more material for mounting features or local twist/bend resistance.

[sdcantrell56]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I think if we have a situation where we can't use bumpers in the front or rear I will use 1/4" thick lexan for the endcaps. Lexan can take a ton of punishment and won't permanently bend. Also it will be a relatively light weight solution to the problem. Although if at all possible I will definitely push for a design that lets us use bumpers.