07-09-2011 16:01

Frenchie461

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

It's a new minibot alignment system (at least that's my guess)

07-09-2011 16:12

O'Sancheski

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Could be, but they already have a ramp. Don't know you can improve on their massive lexan alignment system?

07-09-2011 16:30

Nemo

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

I guess one could make it less massive while not making it too much less voluminous.

07-09-2011 17:20

O'Sancheski

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

They want it massive. It lets them have a smaller margin of error. The alignment "V" on their ramp is so large so they don't have to be anywhere close to being aligned with the pole.

07-09-2011 18:35

Akash Rastogi

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

This is gonna be the coolest swerve in the West.

Is that bracket also going to be reinforced with welding on the frame, or is the bracket enough?

Looking good!

07-09-2011 18:41

MattC9

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Could this be a corner of a chassis?

07-09-2011 20:04

BrendanB

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Looks like the corner to a chassis but the giant hole has me guessing a simple bumper mount. What are the thicknesses of the metal?

07-09-2011 22:57

PAR_WIG1350

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Could be titanium, But that seems like a lot of machining for titanium.

07-09-2011 23:57

AdamHeard

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

It's all plain 6061 Aluminum. The tubing is 1/16" wall, and the gusset plate is 1/16" thick. Those are 3/16" rivets and this is the finished assembly, no additional welding or bolting.

08-09-2011 00:32

Akash Rastogi

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Figured as much. I'm liking the no weld designs from you.

08-09-2011 03:04

Hawiian Cadder

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Probably not legal, but it would be cool if this robot could deploy 2 mini-bots simultaneously.

08-09-2011 08:59

Brandon Holley

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Am I right in assuming there is another one of these brackets on the underside of this assembly?

We've been building frames like this for the past few years now and we really like how they turn out. In terms of getting an extremely square and accurate frame, I haven't found a better way. The nice thing with this as well, is that while welding usually isn't necessary after final construction, if you do decide to weld, the frame is already jigged together for you.

-Brando

08-09-2011 20:35

Holtzman

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

All the cool teams use 1/4" Rivets.

08-09-2011 20:50

Akash Rastogi

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

No because that would be pointless. Lol

08-09-2011 21:06

dodar

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Actually more like 50. lol

08-09-2011 21:27

AdamHeard

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Brandon, the lower gusset is actually our .125 thick full size bellypan. This year we had the bellypan and an internal block, no upper gusset. A student pointed out we should try an upper gusset for our 6wd instead, and it turned out to be obviously a lot simpler and easier to make. The internal blocks are a pain to fabricate.

Haha, we've only recently really started using rivets in this fashion, and #10-32 bolts are our standard, so 3/16" matches up well. Our pneumatic and hand riveters only go to 3/16" as well. A "big daddy" is on our wishlist, we'll see what happens. It'd be nice to know we can drill out 3/16" and go to 1/4" as a quick fix.

09-09-2011 08:54

Brandon Holley

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Ah, yes that makes sense. We've built frames for our manipulators/elevators/etc. using the same technique where gussets would be on either side; that is why I asked the question.

Looking forward to seeing the completed assembly.


What material rivets are you using? We used 3/16" stainless on our claw this year, and we had a hell of a time popping them by hand. Luckily our sponsor has a more specialized rivet gun so we were able to get them eventually, but it definitely required the correct tool.

-Brando

09-09-2011 12:40

Katie_UPS

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

That's too bad. 6061 is fun and nice to weld.

10-09-2011 13:30

Borisdamole

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

But if its welded it is harder to repair (especially if already powered coated)

Some welded powder coated robots frames show cracks in the welds by the end of the season after some hard matches.

10-09-2011 21:19

Katie_UPS

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Yeah... My old team used to anodize. No problems with cracking, but re-welding anything was bad news. Are the cracks the result of powder coating + welding? Or is it just that the cracks are more visible due to the powder coating? Its kind of a dumb question, I know, but I don't think any of our anodized welds showed cracks (aside from a fall off a ramp in 2007).

11-09-2011 08:51

Borisdamole

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

The powder coat defiantly will make them more noticeable. The powder coating was not the cause of the crack.

A crack on the powder was a great indication that the weld COULD be a problem.

I am just saying that with the riveted solution, a cracked weld is NEVER a problem!

11-09-2011 13:53

Katie_UPS

Re: pic: FRC973 offseason teaser #5

Gotcha.

Anyways, super cool looking brackets.