Wooden Robots a No No ? -No!

I have just seen the 3rd episode of Robot Wars series 8 and overdoser is revealed as a
wooden robot-mdf if you please and was apparently built in a week.

If you cant weld or are on a budget its got to be an option, my second robot Death Warmed Up
was 50% wood 50% fibreglass on the bodywork, of course spinners were rare in those days.

I think overdoser's mistake was to use mdf just screwed together-not the most durable solution.
If I were given the spec to build one out of wood to take on spinners and full pressure flippers
heres my solution and shopping list.
High quality 16mm plywood
8mm steel angled brackets
6mm polycarbonate off cuts
30mm long bolts
set of hardwood chair legs
Method-Any shaped robot is ok but a box shaped robot is the most vunerable-too much
surface area, so angled round or wedge shape is better.
So the steel brackets are bolted wherever theres a join in the wood and the chair legs
are placed internally,cover the whole robot in polycarbonate off cuts or other durable
material ie :plate steel and bolt it through the plywood.
If you are using hardox, titanium or carbon fibre-better stick with that:lol:

They actually had the right idea in one respect with the MDF. As Jonathan mentioned, they chose it for its flame resistant properties; it is hard to set on fire, just tends to smoulder and blacken.

But yeah the attachment method didn't seem the strongest; that's the same with anything though. Having 20mm Hardox armour is great but if it's only held on by two M4 bolts, then it ain't much use :)
Though considering it was their first robot and built in five days, they had a hell of a go. Really nice to see a low-budget machine; hopefully they have the bug now and we see them again, and hopefully they've inspired other have-a-go builders working from sheds who don't have access or tools to work with the fancier materials.

With the right means of connecting the sheets, high end plywood is a viable option in my thinking.

In that respect I follow a few Youtubers into woodworking. Matthias for one.

After all, wood is mother natures own carbon fiber.

Combine the wood idea with the principles of spaced armor and we could be surprised what it can endure.

But I'm set for metalworking ,and can weld about any weldable material, so no wooden machine from me.

I actually remember in previous series of robot wars there was an international team that went against hypnodisc and it was made from wood. I remember that hypnodisc went in strong but a splinter ended up in the bearing and fried the motor. So I guess in that situation it worked well.

Wood is cheap and easy to work with, lending the same properties of carbon fibre but just sitting heavier on the ground (think about how boats are built).

I also imagine that using a composite set up with an MDF outer skin and some sort of cork inner layer and you would have reasonable force absorption from flippers and hammers at the lightweights however this would be almost nullified at the heavy weight when forces are amplified.

These are just my ramblings anyway.

I've been building and entering wooden robots for the last 2 yrs and have physically been laughed at by people when I got it out my bag lol. But then when people see a big spinner bounce off and you get to the finals, they start to realise you've done your homework and sussed that there is a knack to building a good wooden robot. If anyone is interested I will elaborate, but I'm not really an authority.

I'm in agreement, if designed properly a wooden robot is entirely viable.

Marine ply would be my choice due to the laminations, probably 3/4in or 1in thick. Given the same is now used to build houses by Wiki House I'm certain it could work. And as everyone points out, fairly cheap to replace and easy to work with!

I can't put a lump hammer thru 18mm ply, and I can jump up and down on some of the wooden feathers I've made (without the internals in). It's how they're built really, took a lot of experimentation etc.

You know Al Kindle's original Blacksmith was a wooden axebot. Granted it competed in the 30 pound sportsman class so there were no spinners but it held up pretty well.

http://youtu.be/Bl7PMWgCgHg

I think the use of marine grade is neither here nor there in this application. All plywood is laminated but marine ply has special adhesives to allow it to survive in water. This may make it stronger but the key is the laminations. I do agree with everyone that its how these structures are put together that matters.

Wood turns up in some very surprising & unlikely places industrially for armour, insulation, wear resistance, flexibility and sheer strength. A good example is the skid on the tail of commercial airliners which drags on the ground sometimes during take-off. Generally they are made from Oak and it beats metal or polymers in almost every respect.

Contrary to what you might think, it survives longer in fire than steel (it retains more of its strength).

One reason it's not used more is manufacturing cost - it's hard to mass produce a wooden item cheaply.

Maple Ply, as used for skateboard deck s has useful strength and elasticity properties. Whether it's marine or not doesn't make much odds unless you are worried about it getting wet.

Sensibly designed, a wooden robot could have a lot of advantages. But, the devil is in the detail.

Si

Oak fires melt steel beams

Thankfully for me there are no fires in uk comps!

Maple ply is a great shout and I know that spitfires were built out of wood too. I would love to see a good wooden robot go toe for toe against hardox and titanium

It was the Mosquito that became famous for the full wooden construction.

The Spitfire was a fairly normal aluminium skinned fighter of its day.