Team MedBots

[mrsam]

I'm by no means a drum/spinner expert but having seen some of the drums at the 2014 and '15 champs i feel i can offer something.

6mm polycarb for a lid is plenty, no axe is getting all the way through it. Having seen what the likes of LH3, No toy and Hatchet actually do to it you'd be completely safe using it. As for a base, you'd be better off with hdpe or even some 2mm ti/Alu, you could use polycarb if the base is non structural (if you've seen Hatchet's 10mm base last year you'll understand), you won't need hardox top and bottom panels, it's really a waste of money/weight.

As for your outer armour 6mm hardox is way overkill, 722 uses angled 3.2 and i believe Drumroll this year used regular steel brackets with hdpe over the top. Spinners are so powerful nowadays that a decent hit on hardox will bend it and you'll never get it straight again being 6mm, if you went down to 3.2 that would save you a huge amount of weight and wouldn't really leave you any worse for wear.

[robotic_ants]

I've had some past experience using plastic drums back in the day, my first attempt used PVC a brittle plastic and was a total noob failure, it was powered by a "gold motor" and instantly cracked on first impact, lucky the end caps kept it all in one piece.

Second attempt was HDPE this proved to be much more durable, granted it only had a hand full of battles and never went up against the spinners of today but I believe it would still be a viable option if I was still building today. Only issue I came across is when little hitter got a perfect hit on the aerial cover and bent the shell into the path of the teeth, the sudden impact from the collision warped the bar and managed to pull a single bolt through the drum. That time it is was powered by a 1.5hp Ev Warrior motor, I believe a better designed bar and correct internal support for the teeth would work better. I did move onto a saw like disk around the drum but never got tested enough, it was fun lots of sparks but not designed for flipping or throwing another bot.

But these examples are from a old featherweight, modern high power and speed brushless motors would add another factor for the design of a plastic drum, I say why not try it.