I’ve seen quite a bit of interesting solutions to having either 2 square tubing slide together or 80/20 slide together.
What have you used? and What is the… “best” sliding track to use?
We actually cut a piece of 80/20 in half and made custom rail cars with skateboard bearings. It works well because you can machine an upside down v pattern into your mounting blocks to mount under the half rail, and you also have a place to run cable through.
In 2011, 1771 made both the elevator and the minibot launch rail from IGUS slides. They worked flawlessly. The CAD model for the bot is available on frc designs.
We make our own using 1/8" wall box and delrin slides.
You can see a couple of these mechanisms on our 2011 robot here:
We have used 8020 with skateboard bearings.
It’s a bit bulky but slides like ice on ice.
I don’t have a good picture, but you can see part of the assembly in this pic.
Linear sliders for 80/20 are available from McMaster Carr:
80/20 also sells sliders.
We used 80/20 this year with custom sliders, but in the past we have used Igus, who makes some really awesome solutions.
I’m rather curious what 254 used for their elevator in 2011. Whatever it was, it was smooth and light.
Yeah I was also wondering that, I’d like to stay away from the 80/20 because on an elevator, its just too heavy. Yes, easier to work with, but I don’t know if its worth it if you have the resources to make due with c-chanels and honey-combed extrusions.