Way to not do it yourself… you better hope you dont have to change anything… and thats not really going to make your robot any stronger,it will still flex as much as if it was bolted together, you just wont be able to take it apart now… have fun!
Mr. Wolf is a mentor and Norwich Glass is a sponsor of our team. That is the only thing that was not done out of our shop. Some teams have everything fabbed at a shop then all the team does is put it together.
The weak spots on a frame are it’s corners, make them stronger then the frame as a whole will be.
The drive train has been tested, our lift fits on it great, and everything is just right. So there shouldn’t be a need to take it a part.
I must be missing something here. Why are you using black goo to join your frame members as opposed to something such as say, bolts? What is that stuff anyhow?
Well those teams suck and they should be kicked out, not that they could enforce that… and the corners are not the weakest spot they have 2 to 3 layers of metal unlike the sides which are long and only 1 layer, unless you varied from the default layout a lot… i sure hope your right when you say it fits cause it would really suck if you had to take it apart…
It’s epoxy, we are saving a good amount of weight, by not using as many.
Bolts can losen during a match and need to be tightened. That makes the frame corners weaker. Epoxy can’t losen, so it will make the frame strong all the time. Welding will do the same thing, but welding can make the frame warp. This is just as light weight as welding, but with no warping.
if you tighten bolts theyll be fine, depending on how much stress you put on the frame epoxy will crack, it usually shatters like glass only with a lot of stress though, im sure the epoxy will work fine it will just suck ifi you make any mistakes
Welcome to ChiefDelphi. Helpful or inquisitive posts are encouraged here, but whining, complaining or making derogatory remarks about other people or teams is not.
Keep that in mind as you explore the wealth of information that’s available here. Not only do other students see what you write, but mentors, sponsors and FIRST personnel as well. Do unto others and all that.
i only make remarks at the teams that have there robot fabricated by someone else(that to me is cheating and defeats the whole purpose of this team activity) , i was trying to figure out why this team would use epoxy when bolts are readily available, then when the team said why i explained the epoxy does break and that properly tightened bolts should not come lose. i’m not being mean, i’m being curious and realistic
Congratulations on finding a successful fusion of students and engineers that works for your team. It sounds like your team understands the purpose of FIRST far better than teams whose students never touch the robot, or than teams who try to attack this problem with no engineer support at all. Best of luck with the rest of your season.
I’m curious as to why you don’t get your frame welded, it’s stronger then epoxy and bolts togther, you dont have any bolts to lose, and you wouldn’t believe how much weight you’d save not using bolts. Becides if you’re sure enough of your frame design to epoxy it togther you’d be sure enough to weld it, because grinding off the weldded joints would probabally be a compareable ammount of work to that of removing all that epoxy.
Surprisingly, welding may not be that much stronger than epoxy (if stronger at all). Welding ruins the heat-treatment on the aluminum, which makes its strength take a nosedive. On the other hand, some epoxies are insanely strong and do not affect the heat treatment.
and GrammarNazi your being mean a your Well those teams suck and they should be kicked out this is mean everyone’s being nice to you about this we(I) do not mind this we just want you to under stand first better remember- this is more about gp than robots
-colin
Thank you very much, that means a lot from someone that is from a team that is in an area with a much larger population then little old Norwich, NY
That is very true, when I weld alum. tubing I cause put 2 tubes welded into a “T”, let it cool, put it into a vice and rip the alum all around the weld before breaking the weld. It’s because the areas around the welds became heat treated and became weaker.
I haven’t seen any of my welds on a robot “shatter”, but every year i have one cracked or fully broken weld (often my crappy welds). What is nice about epoxy is that it has some stretch to it.
Although some very valid anti-weld points have been brought up, out team has had 3 out of our 5 total robot frames (2008 included) with no trouble from welds cracking, or even the aluminum being weakened from the heat, I think we actualy bent our frame last year from so many hard impacts with both the arena, other robots and various shop components (students included :P) and it still has full structural integrity with no strees points showing in metal or welds. I guess one of the main factors would be that they have either been welded with a TIG by students/mentors with more than proficent welding skills or it was sent out to be welded professionally.
wow…interesting idea. i’d have never thought of gluing the chassis together. the past few years we have used 1.5" and 2" bolts that go the top and bottom of the end caps and end rails. much much easier than using all those small bolts that come in the kit. this year and last year we’ve bought aluminum spacers and faced them down so they fit inside the frame rails (otherwise the rails would bend inwards when tightening down the screws). you can see the bolts and the spacers here: http://www.joemenassa.com/images/robotics2008/day19/images/IMG_8368.jpg.
