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Robot Weight Watchers by: IKE
This presentation is for how to save weight after your robot is built. It also cites specific examples on Killer Bee machines where and how we saved weight once it was built.
This presentation has practical examples on how to save weight once your robot is built. This is actually more like Jenny Craig as it will probably cost you some money to save weight. Read this before you go to competition and plan ahead. Buyin the right materials before hand can save a lot of begging.
This paper was requested to help other teams find good ways to save weight after their robot has shipped. We are getting many more examples this year and I will hopefully remember to update it. 1 idea that we brainstormed and calculated at the last team meeting
PVC rollers are deceptively heavy. 2" sched 40 is 30 grams per inch length. 2" 035 wall aluminum is 10 grams per inch. Our shooter has 15" of tube length therefore we will be able to save 300 grams switching over to thin wall aluminum rollers. This is nearly 3/4 of a pound!
Please add other general tips into this thread as teams are now competing and may need teh advice.
I like the mention that 7/8" round tube will fit into 1" x 1/16" square tube…and also remember that 3/4" round tube will fit into 1" x 1/8" square tube, so you could cut the center out of a long, heavy square tube, put some smaller thin light round tube in, and rivet it together at the ends, should be plenty strong if there are no parts attached in the middle.
Black ABS sewer pipe is considerably lighter than PVC, and it won’t shatter either.
Using sheet aluminum brackets, riveted to the ends of thinwall aluminum tubing, seems to work pretty well, and could save some weight compared to other construction methods, and doesn’t require welding or milling.
Look at using plywood, it’s surprisingly light and stiff, and it’s also easy to cut with a jigsaw and a hole saw.
Double Wow. You guys had such a beautiful machine last year. You sure that there isn’t a tube filled with Anodizing solution? How did you guys make out?
OK folks, Week 5, time to throw your robot (or stack of robot parts) on the scale. If you have been careful and diligent all along, there should be no big surprises. If you have been randomly bolting stuff together, this could be a wake-up call, (now is better than ship day).
If you don’t have a fully assembled bot, remember wire and bodywork can eat up weight quicker than you would expect. Make sure you have some extra pounds. If not, now is the time to start substituting heavy parts for lighter ones.
I am a little late with this reminder, but folks, please throw your robot on a scale before you bag it. If overwieght, please read through some helpful tips before you break out the drills. I would hate to see your season end before it starts due to filling a CRio full of shavings.