Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.
Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.
Hi guys, I have been wondering what you people do to have a chassis for your bot. do you build it from metal sheets/plastic etc ? or do you use some boxes of some kind easily available ?
ripping toys and using lego etc doesnt look like a solution.
Well pike for a replica robo cop you would want to use resin, but anyway mostly for light weight robot's you want to use plastic or very thin sheet's of metal like 1/16 thick and commonly people would use aluminum cause of it's weight and strength, or you can use wood but some people are not to attached to wood robots.
For the medium you are going to want to use thick sheets of plastic but the cost will make your head explode. For medium size robot's you would want to use metal because medium robot's usually start out at 50 pounds.
For the large robot's you should use nothing but medium guage metal with support beams, these robot's usually way a total of 90 to over 400 pounds.
So basicly that is what you should look for in body's.
I guess I put the question wrong way round.
what I wanted to ask was. how do you build it.
like after you know you want to build it out of plastic/metal sheet.
after that how do you actualy do it.
perhaps people here can share there tips and tricks
yes. like if its metal sheet, then what tools you use to cut it in shape
and how you do it if theres any special way you follow.
how do you bend it, drill it. put in threads for the screws etc.
I use a plasma cutter and a table saw and a band saw and a whole lot of other cutting tools.
For bending the metal you would want to use a press or bend it by hand.
To cut plastic I use the same tools that I use for metal except plasma cutter and to make it in to complex shape I use resin and I use vaccum formation to make some plastic parts.
Wood basicly the same thing as metal but no plasma cutter duh.
Well if you want to make nice medium sized robot's or some small you will need most of those tools.
For small robots you could use a band saw and a table saw and a drill press and you are all good to make plastic, metal, wood.
You could how ever go with a hack saw but not recomended because it does not accurate cut's even with a miter box.
Robotics is one of the most expensive hobby and carrer to get into, if you have no power tools or anything related then you will baicly be paying more then a $1000 usa to get started.
I am into small robots.
so I guess I can breathe easy
So far I have only used an electric hand drill and hack saws.
total cost incurred on my floppy box based robot < 100USD
But now I need some kind of tool to cut aluminum sheets.
Is there any rotory cut tool or something that can be chucked-in
in the hand drill and be used to cut sheets ?
If not what would be the tool I would need to cut.
Considering I would be sutting plastic and aluminium once in a year ?
It's not a cheap topic either, i spent roughly $500 on that remote control tank project right there, most of it was the expense of the circuits.
But al i had was a hack saw, mill, lathe and accessories to go with it.
You could hire out a professional fabricator to build it. Wont be cheap though.
If you want clean straight cuts then you are still going to have to get a table saw, you cant do every thing with hand tools, sometimes you need something special. Even for small robots you will often pay over a 1000usa to get started, those tools you got are not enough for accurate cuts and holes. If you need to be accurate then go with the power tools.
If you want clean straight cuts then you are still going to have to get a table saw, you cant do every thing with hand tools, sometimes you need something special. Even for small robots you will often pay over a $1000 usd to get started, those tools you got are not enough for accurate cuts and holes. If you need to be accurate then go with the power tools.
I agree Roboticinfo.
I do need power tools but being a software guy I am not sure which
power tools are used for what.
Also since I am into small robots, and have the will to make even smaller ones, I was wondering what power too lwould allow me to make straight cuts in sheets not bigger than 20cmX20cm.
Also many of the cuts are not end to end i.e I want to make cuts that would start somewhere within the sheet and end in the sheet as well.
Though I understand that the best way to do that would be to have a die and press it onto the sheets to have all the cuts in place but if i need just one sheet (to test the design), then the headaches of the die wont be worth it.
Another thing I always wonder is "is it possible to fabricate gears at home. if so what tools would i need."
For small accurate cuts use a band saw and a table saw even if they are small. To make gears you would have to be highly experienced in mechanical engineering in order to make gears.
The tools would be a laser cutter, mill machine, and resin but the resin is not a good choice because plastic wears down to quick compared to metal.
This is a place to ask question's and not feel shy when you do so.
Anyway a band saw come is vertical and horizontal and the blade go's in a linear motion and cut vary well on plastic, wood, metal and even foam and rubber depending on the blade.
You could see on at www.sears.com
and put in the search bar Band saw and you will most likely see a delta band saw which is a good company.
to make your own gears, you have to have a mill and a rotary table atleast, then include the price of the tungsten cutting tips and i can guarantee you, your wallet will hate you.
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