This is for those of you who are making & designing a robot with a ramp. What are you making it out of? What problems are you having with deploying the ramp with an arm? Without an arm?
Aluminum with some type of gripping device on top:D
carbon fiber panels. very lightweight and very strong. then we’re putting a grippingmaterial over them for obvious reasons…
We’re planning on building the gripping material into the aluminum ramp…using a secret patented process…
Our team is using panels that are a composite of aluminum, plastic and styrofoam. It holds up very well.
Aluminum extrusion frame (8020) and 8020 honeycomb paneling thats 1/8" thick (its just like cardboard but plastic)…and it is extremely light weight.
Plastic storage shelves from Home Depot, with some aluminum to hold it together and grip material to distribute force and increase traction.
I’ll tell you are problems when we actually test them.
My team is VERY, VERY new, so any input from a veteran team would be appreciated. We have designed our ramp system, but do not know what material to build it out of. We have an aluminium fram completed but need a material to mount on it to support the robots we will lift. Weight is a slight issue, we have considered:
- Lexan
- 1/4 inch plywood
- Expanded Aluminium
- Expanded Steel
Any input on our ideas and especially NEW SUGGESTIONS would be wonderful, thanks…
Steel is a definate no, and lexan can get up there in weight as well. Aluminum can be heavy but you could also cheese it if need be. Plywood can be heavy too especially in sheets for a ramp. Your best bet if you can get it would probably be diamond plate. It isnt that heavy, and it’s alos strong. We’re using carbon fiber with honeycomb filling but that is a little pricey. If you have the money i say do that.
Plywood would probably be your best option, without the ability to purchase high priced composites or honey comb paneling, or fancy sheet metal working, plywood will provide your best strength and rigidity for the weight, and is very simple to work with. Typical softwood plywood has density per unit area around 13%-14% that of aluminum, and birch plywood around 23% that of aluminum. Because of the decreased density your moment of inertia about the thickness will be much greater for a similar weight and will provide much higher strength. Also plywood is dirt cheap when compared with aluminum so it will be much easier to keep spares on hand.
1279 has used alumalite: https://www.harborsales.net/fullsheetlookup.cfm?categoryID=3&subcategoryID=2&cat=Metal%20Faced%20Panels
Light & easy to cut.
Using: A semicircircular wheel, a TON of aluminum fencing, and an axle (aluminum shaft).
Problems: Danger to robots (we don’t know if will may capsize with two robots)
We’re using carbon fiber for our ramps too–thin sheets with foam blocks sandwiched inbetween. We’re only at the point where we’re just about to mount them, though, and we’re trying to figure out how many spares we’ll need. Have you guys been playing around, seeing how much it takes to break them? It would be awesome to have some input.
And Matt Gardner, as for a suggestion for your team–like the others, I’d strongly consider using honeycomb (try going to mcmaster.com and type in “Aluminum Honecomb” into the search tab). It’s not cheap, but it’s very light for its strength (good enough to be used for floor panels in airplanes). 
There’s also the added benefit of spending less time constructing the actual ramp, since it arrives at your lab all in one piece, and spending more time on the actuators.
Hope this helps.
My first response would be to say aluminum angle and lexan, with cross supports underneath.
However, everyone is suggesting these new-fangled sandwiched materials. I’d suggest going with these, as I think thats what our ramp is being made from.
I’m pretty sure we got a few of our crew to go pillage the space shuttle, because whatever we found is some crazy stuff…
I would look into corrugated plastic if…when weight becomes an issue. As long as you provide some support around it’s edges to prevent bending, it has potential to work.
Welded steel mesh from the ramp used in Stack Attack of 2003 on an aluminum frame. 27 inches wide, almost 10 feet long, ~23lbs
carbon fiber sounds pretttttttttty good
Aluminum & stuffff…
Our team is now looking at Alumalite as a viable option (thanks Dad1279!). Does anyone know a local distributor of Alumalite? We are in Burlington, Ontario (In the Greater Toronto Area). We need at least 4’x10’ sheet perferably in black/pink, but we’ll buy whatever is cheap and available. We’d like to be able to pick it up Thursday if its close enough, because we don’t have enough time really to have it shipped in…
Also, Dad1279, or someone from his team, or anyone who’s dealt with alumalite…Do you know the mass per square foot of Alumalite? And is it really strong enough to support robots (with a proper frame, of course)?
Thanks again everyone, you’ve all been a great help…
what is “Alumanite”?
never heard of it…google doesn’t seem to know much about it…