My new hw

work has started on my hw, and i will have quite a few questoions over the coming months, the frame is built but i was wondering what i should use for my hw base. i can obtian stainless steel, aluminium, and mild steel relatively cheap. but dont know what to go for in material and thickness, on a bit of a budget, any able to make any suggestions, thanks.

we use aluminium,

on some robot my dad quickly made so we didnt miss a load of events we have a stainless steel base and it weighed like 40kg so for obvious reasons i would go for aluminium

cheers john, what sort of grade and thickness did you go with, do you remember?

we just use what we get for free :P lol so not sure what grade - i dont think its the best for robot combat

its all 8mm though and has been strong enough for KO and the axes - so far - we will get a nice hole from KO next event now iv said that lol

but wont be tested with spinners til rebel robots so might not be strong enough but hopefully is lol

the robot is slowly getting ti plates added to it lol got the back plate and will hopefully get the side plates one day soon

8mm t6 aluminium and it holds out well, but it does depend on what ur building

22mm plywood in ours.

In Obsidian the baseplate is a very tough kind of ali, about 6mm thick.

But, if I would build a new heavy, it will be like the Hannibalitos, a minimalistic Tframe.

my heavy (mythras) uses 12mm aliminium, and 10 mm mild steel in some spots

jack

thanks people, it has given me some ideas, think i will go with ali around 8mm.

i did wonder about wood woody. lol

(Message edited by promo robots on April 17, 2008)

Its only 18mm Alan!

I would say that 8mm Ally is a overkill for a floor.

We use 5mm Polycarb on THz with no problems, but that wouldnt work very well on a steel frame.

3 mm 2014 T6 should be plenty. If that costs too much, 6082 T6 is cheaper but somewhat less strong. Avoid checkerplate or any other general-purpose ally (e.g. from a DIY store) - it is very soft.

2014 T6 is stronger than mild steel. We use it a lot (our bot beta is all 2014). 7075 T6 is even stronger than 2014, but is not generally available less than 1/2 thick.

http://www.technobots.co.ukwww.technobots.co.uk sells sheets of 6082 T6 (Materials & Hardware | Engineering Materials)

http://www.metalfast.co.ukwww.metalfast.co.uk sells 6082, 2014 and 7075 in sheet, round and rectangular bar. They cut it to size and youre only charged for what you buy.

ok thanks john. i will price up all those options and see what works out best for me. im using a company up the road from my house who specialise in aluminium and steel supplies and fabricating.

Thanks for that Metalfast link John - Ive been on the lookout for some thick-walled ali tubing to use as a possible new spinning drum for a while; these guys look like they could be of help

we only use 8mm as its free and got nothing else lol

was out with my m8s dad last night and he asked if we needed any more ali - so going to try get my dad to make an axe :)

so John Reid im going to be making my dad copy from the best :P

ok, the frame is now fully welded, i have the ali chassis plate cut ready to fit. but now Im in 2 minds about drive. its 2wd and i was planning to use 2 x bosch 400w (12v) motors as i have about 6 of them lying around. are they any good?? as i here mixed reviews, i would also need tips on what voltage to run them at and a recommended speedo?
their is plenty of space within the frame to go with another motor if needed.

any replies welcome.

(Message edited by promo_robots on May 27, 2008)