Which regulator?

[harry hills]

tormenta isn't hdpe, its made of chopping board

[jonny]

tormenta didn't use hdpe though

[Liftoff]

Aha, that makes a difference, Chopping board?! thought it was Hdpe

So hdpe should be ok against that type of abuse? think thats as much worse as it gets!

Will check locally if there's anyone who sells this stuff, can somebody post a link of someone who sells this online pls?

[jonny]

to be honest it mainly depends on mounting (catch points etc), but yes chopping board is alot more brittle. everyone seems to get their hdpe from http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk

[Liftoff]

Thanks Jonny for the link...hmm seems he only delivers to the Uk, I'll ask him if he can deliver abroad...

[archie2000]

your CAD design looks ok the sides are sloped and if made out of 10-12mm HDPE will stay strong for a bit
tormentas problem was a. the catching point and b. the screws all flew out.
to make your robot stronger you can't have enough bits of support and rivets
if the back of your model is sloped you will be fine
but that was NST (i think- the video wouldn't load) and i doubt the will be any vertical spinners like that at the events you partuciate in

[Liftoff]

''but that was NST (i think- the video wouldn't load) and i doubt the will be any vertical spinners like that at the events you partuciate in''
Hope not! but you never know... before last year there were no spinners strong enough to bother, but last year there was and it performed well...this year I'd expect more!

That Cad design is not final yet - but those are the lines, as sloped as possible to try deflecting any hard impact

[razerdave]

If they don't deliver abroad, I don't mind shipping it out to you Chris.

[Liftoff]

That's very kind of you Dave, I've sent them a msg asking if its possible to ship them over. Will pm you if they can't. Thanks

[Ellis]

Hi there!

Saw you saw our little 'incident' with Tormenta! Ah yes, well, that. We knew chopping boards had been used for cheap armour by others in the past, and a local shop had loads of sizes, so having purchased some and having played with it a bit, we decided to use it as the main building material for the robot. The kind of stresses you can put on the stuff with your bare hands produced no signs of the material being brittle. The fight against NST was so explosive not because the armour was badly mounted or due to the shape, as said above, but purely because of the brittleness. It simply couldn't take the massive hit from NST, and it shattered like glass.

For Tormenta 2 (being built) we will be using all HDPE. We live in Spain, and having contacted Directplastics they have been able to get sheets of the stuff to where we live. Of course, it wasn't cheap. A single sheet was £20, whilst several was still £20. So, make as much of the order as you can, perhaps buying for future products as well, as you will save money in the long run.

Our little (but growing) experience with HDPE has been 100% positive. A high percentage of UK machines are made with HDPE. It's good stuff. Unlike whatever we used for Tormenta (not sure anyone really knows what chopping board is), HDPE gouges and deforms, as against to shatters. If thick enough and mounted well, you'll be able to take even the biggest of hits.

Best of luck with your build!