$50 robot

[rockrobotics]

On the $50 robot Admin uses HDPE for the chasis.  But I don't have that and I don't know If I have wood thin enough.  Would drilling through cardboard hold??  I don't think it wood!  Can you give me some suggestions?  Thanks!

[Pratheek]

Try plywood of thickness of 2mm-6mm. Anything thicker than that will be difficult to work with(to cut, drill holes, etc), anything thinner will probably not be strong enough. Plywood is easier to find.

If you have the tools and the time try using metal.

Good quality cardboard could also be used(keep this as your last option though).

Finally check out the robot building materials tutorial in the website.

[Conscripted]

I made my chassis out of on old tin that had candy or something similar in it.  You could use plastic from old CD/DVD cases. I think card board would work if you made it two thick and held it together with glue or wrapped it with clear packing tape. You could use the case from an old piece of electronics (old printer, broken vcr, stereo receiver that's been sitting in the corner of your garage for two years). Basically anything you can imagine can be used for the body of your bot. That is one of the advantages of the little ones.

Good luck and post pictures.

Conscripted

[waltr]

Cardboard can also be laminated with card stock, thin plywood or even plastics to increase its strength and stiffness.
I believe a strong enough chassis for the $50 bot can be made for a piece of corrugated cardboard (common brown box) with a piece of card stock (thin cardboard found inside shirts when you buy them) glued on both side. Any white or wood glue would work.
Pile books on top while to glue sets to keep everything flat and in good contact.

Just take your time drilling holes but since the cost is almost nothing if you mess it up make a new one.

Another material that works well is perf boards and old circuit boards with the old parts removed.

[Soeren]

Hi,

Would drilling through cardboard hold??

If you glue a layer of glass weave wallpaper on each side it will be fairly rigid and mounting stuff will take some strain relief (a wide metal disk or similar on each side should do).
Another possibility is using 1..2 mm carbon fiber rod for a skeleton and cover it in carton (or eg. 0.5 mm styrene).

Cardboard tubes, as used for shipping posters and similar, might be quite useable as well, as you just have to treat it the same way as you make a granite statue of an elephant