Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: gamefreak on April 13, 2009, 07:44:42 AM

Title: Foam board
Post by: gamefreak on April 13, 2009, 07:44:42 AM

Has anyone ever used project foam board as a building material? Im thinking of building a small robot using 3/8" foam board as the main structural material. I know that it can be glued together to create the chassis but what other ways other than glue can be used to mount the components to it?

By foam board i mean the stuff used in schools to mount your presentations on.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: GearMotion on April 13, 2009, 08:25:40 AM

Often called "foam core".

And yes, people have built robots from it.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: gamefreak on April 13, 2009, 09:44:42 AM

So what is a good mounting scheme on Foarmcore? I would rather not glue my expensive electronics to it.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: Razor Concepts on April 13, 2009, 10:23:19 AM

Velco and double sided foam tape work great.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: GearMotion on April 13, 2009, 11:19:23 AM

You can drill/punch a hole in foam core for mounting. Use wide washers (fender washers) on either side of the foam core. The wide washers will compress against an larger area of the foam core than just a bolt head and nut.

It certainly depends a lot on the size and type of robot, but I have seen a flat robot base made of a double layer of foam core. Motors were mounted using wide washers. The robot was made with foam core, rather than plastic and metal and gained rigidity with foam core cross sections. It was a light robot. Assembly was done with hot glue and tape.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: gamefreak on April 13, 2009, 04:05:19 PM

Alright, sounds easy enough. Thanks.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: Admin on April 26, 2009, 07:57:41 PM

Quote

Often called "foam core".

Not quite, as its sandwiched between cardboard.

Another option: fold and staple parts together.

Title: Re: Foam board
Post by: GearMotion on April 29, 2009, 02:53:40 PM

Quote from: Admin on April 26, 2009, 07:57:41 PM

Quote

Often called "foam core".

Not quite, as its sandwiched between cardboard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foamboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foamboard)