Definitely winging it, my CAD skills leave a lot to be desired. In that sense, I'm quite glad I'm using a toaster as it gives me a physical baseline to start with. It's tough to get an idea of what I want, because I want to make it as strong as possible, but also want to avoid it looking like a HDPE box with a surprise toaster center, like the worst kinder egg ever made.
My options in my head at the moment are as follows:
Option 1: Cut the bottom half of the sides off the toaster to put the wheels through, then build a wider base out of the HDPE and build wheelguards and armour supported on that. The toaster itself is probably >1mm stainless steel, so I would need to reinforce the inside of the toaster as this wouldn't support things being mounted to it very well.
Option 2: Attempt to fit all the motors and electrics inside the toaster by ditching the drill chucks/casing and getting some custom motor mounts made (probably advisable in the long term), but could be a tight squeeze regardless. From there mounting the HDPE to the outside, but I'm considering rubber washers (?) on the bolts in between to act as a shock absorber. Again, inside the toaster would need reinforcing to "sandwich" the panels together. Not sure how practical or effective this would be, so I'm leaning toward option 1 at the moment.
The back panel with all the toaster buttons needs to be visible in both options. It still needs to look like a toaster, after all. I'm considering getting some 10mm polycarb for this as it is transparent. Any leftovers could also be used for the internal reinforcement mentioned above, saving space compared to using the 20mm HDPE. However, I've read in a couple of places that polycarb isn't suitable armour anymore, but haven't listed why. The front panel will have the dustpan mounted to it, either to HDPE, polycarb or both.
That's where I'm at at the moment! Not sure if what I've written makes any sense whatsoever, but it makes sense in my head at least. The HDPE has arrived and is in the garage waiting to meet the bandsaw. Just need to decide on one of the above options and go for it.
Also, side note: I also put the above test videos on my Instagram and got likes from Daniel Freitas of Riobotz, Will Bales of Hypershock and Calvin Iba from Mad Catter. Not particularly relevant to the build, but I'm still having a massive fanboy moment about this and need to express it to people who will know what I'm talking about. I've only been building for two weeks and the support and enthusiasm I've had from family, friends and you guys on here has been so encouraging. I'm absolutely loving it so far. Thank you so much.
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