Example chassis for GBX-123.
Uses gussets on top and the modules’ 1/4-20 tapped holes on the bottom to mount and put together.
Weight as shown with all screws, etc. is a mere 28.3lbs, comparable to a WCD. It uses a Garolite G10 bellypan, which is lighter than the diamond cut aluminum ones. All that’s left now is to make it shifting…
How thick is the G10?
1/16".
Are you envisioning mounting electronics to the G10? I am curious about what, if any, stiffening supports would be needed with that thickness. I would be happy to hear from anyone who has experience with this.
I’m going off what AdamHerd said about bellypans; I haven’t used it before.
lol I think he’s changed his mind since then 
Is there a story behind this?
Why? Did something shatter on him?
Plywood Yo
I like your style
What are the advantages over G10 though? Is it lighter?
Checked the weight in SW, plywood is only 0.3lbs heavier than a garolite bellypan. And it’s cheaper and easier to work with, so we may well end up going that route.
Would 7/32 or 3/16" work instead? The last bit of extra weight is killing me.
We used 5mm (~0.2") lauan plywood for Aerial Assault without any issues, so yes, if you insist.
That little bit of extra money though…
Can’t argue with that. However, it’s going to be tricky to convince the team that plywood makes for a good bellypan.
Usually our issue is with weight/design, not money.
Why? Analayze it from an engineering sense and explain the tradeoffs.
Most teams are several orders of magnitude away from being optimized enough for bellypan choice to even matter much anyway.
I posted in a bellypan thread the tradeoffs between several options but am on mobile and can’t hunt it down.
This one?
We’re usually somewhat of a tradition-led team. We recently changed officers, so I’ll have to speak with the new officer team about their thoughts on plywood. Compared to the punched 1/8" 5052 we use now, pretty much anything is better.
Garolite makes it look more “professional” compared to plywood, but I feel like we could just paint over it.
I’ve seen your bellypan threads, and I thought they were very helpful. It’s also reassuring to know that your team has tried many different options and optimized.
As long as we don’t have a game like this year’s and we don’t build too big, we’re probably okay weight-wise. Both Garolite and plywood are so easy to use that I’m reasonably certain we can swap it out on one robot if the need is dire.
Another really lightweight pption is 1/2in or3/16in corrugated plastic. That stuff is sure light and great for electronics boards. We’ve used it the past few years and have seen many teams using it before. You can even get it in colors to look good
You and your team should define what “look more professional” really means, what your teams overall values are and how much priority and resource your team is willing to put into building a professional looking robot. You should also look around CD for the various threads about wood robots. If done right, they can look just as professional as a robot made from metal. While it is great that your team has a history of tradition to build on, FRC requires that teams think outside of the box (and sometimes inside of the box).
How good the robot looks depends more on how you use the material and your workmanship. There was a mostly wood robot in the Tesla Division that exhibited better workmanship and looked more professional than 80% of the other robots in Tesla. Of course, there were metal robots that also looked better than 80% of the other robots in Tesla.