pic: GUS Team 228 - 2010 Teaser 2

[s_forbes]

This photo made me go check out your gallery; really impressive robot you have going there. The swerve modules look great!

Will it have an orange twin like last year's?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

Will it have an orange twin like last year's?

Unfortunately we won't have an orange powder coated robot this year for two reasons; 1: we're going to have a 119.9 lb robot for the first time since 2005, and that's without the weight of powder coating; 2: we realized pretty early on that a bright orange frame just didn't look good when used with the mandatory red/blue bumpers. After this realization, we wanted have it anodized black but our time schedule had slipped to the point where anodizing would have taken too much precious assembly and wiring time away from us. Not that the slipped time schedule had anything to do with this being our first time designing a swerve, let alone one which clears the bump with ease.

Instead, we've been either wire brushing or sand blasting nearly every visible aluminum component on the robot. The robot in this photo is the competition robot.

[Hawiian Cadder]

wow, that looks complex. is that realy 1 inch axle?

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Hawiian Cadder

wow, that looks complex. is that realy 1 inch axle?

The thickest shaft anywhere on our robot is 1/2" hex or 1/2" round. What you're probably seeing are Delrin spacers. We buy about a dozen feet of black 5/8" OD and 3/4" OD Delrin rod every year and drill out the center on the lathe to make shaft spacers. Anything which doesn't have to slide off, or transverses a long distance, has roll pins to keep it in place. Otherwise, we use Delrin spacers for pretty much everything else.

[Jamie Kalb]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

What you're probably seeing are Delrin spacers. We buy about a dozen feet of black 5/8" OD and 3/4" OD Delrin rod every year and drill out the center on the lathe to make shaft spacers.

Smart. We're always scrambling to make spacers for shafts. I should talk to my team about having the material ready and waiting.