Author Topic: the thinnest possible chasis material? (Read 4732 times)

yash25 · « **on:** July 05, 2009, 02:35:04 PM »

Hi im making a microbot ( i've been posting doubts in the electronics section for some time now) ..well...i designed the CAD some time back and i've realized that my chasis is gonna be triple layered..the bottommost layer will have to bear the entire weight of the circuit and the pager motors...and yet thickness must be aroung 1mm for proper ground clearence.
is there any material which can suit my requirement?

Metal Slug 2 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2009, 02:57:51 PM »

Aluminum.

galannthegreat · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2009, 06:37:11 PM »

1/16 inch thick aluminum would be fine here.

yash25 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2009, 06:54:05 PM »

okay! even i was thinking of aluminium! thanks for the exact material gallannthegreat!

galannthegreat · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:06:35 PM »

Also, if you will still have weight issues I'd suggest using fiberglass (Printed Circuit Board stuff w/o copper traces, or use that material and spread out the circuit along the body).

yash25 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:10:44 PM »

Yes...I'm planning to spread out my circuit..I guess it'll spread out automatically, I guess,I mean, all I have is an inch of space. Is fiberglass lighter than the copperclad PCB's?
But how do i etch the fiberglass PCB then?

galannthegreat · « **Reply #6 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:17:08 PM »

Well, essentially I mean that you could use copper clad boards (etch them with your circuit and interconnect them), and that is the fiberglass boards I was talking about.

Kind of like this nano sumo robot here:

yash25 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:24:00 PM »

whoa! nice stuff! you built that? and im sure there'ss a MEGAbitty lying on top of that one! what a bot! impressed! my next project!

and what d'u suggest i use as wheels? i mean i was panning on the 10 mm diameter wheels that solarbotics is giving out, but shipping it all the way here would mean giving dad a heart attack! so u got any suggestions?

Razor Concepts · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:33:06 PM »

You could make your own wheels. Rubber o-rings work great as tires, and basically anything stiff works good as the wheel.

yash25 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:36:28 PM »

okay! that's good !yeah i'll dot hat! thanks!

galannthegreat · « **Reply #10 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:46:54 PM »

I did not make that, that's just a good example of what I mean.

P.S. This may help you out, http://www.robotmaker.co.uk/

yash25 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:51:35 PM »

Thanks!

galannthegreat · « **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2009, 07:58:12 PM »

No problem, actually, this will give me some more push to finish up my lil' bot that I was working on with my MEGABitty. Now that I look at this site more I see that they have some nice chassis' that I'd recommend. It's just a matter of ordering from the UK, and I don't know how that'll cost.

yash25 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 05, 2009, 08:23:10 PM »

Well I'm planning on building the chasis myself! nothing's more fun than doing the whole thing yourself! is'nt it?
well..what im most excited today morning is about the motors that im ordering from solarbotics in sometime! i'm also going to get all the components..and the chemicals i'll require for the etching!

Metal Slug 2 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2009, 09:47:24 PM »

Quote from: yash25 on July 05, 2009, 08:23:10 PM

Well I'm planning on building the chasis myself! nothing's more fun than doing the whole thing yourself! is'nt it?

Well said, well said

Do you have a dremel for the fine work involved in making the chassis?

yash25 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2009, 10:18:50 PM »

i dont even know what a dremel means and now that u've mentioned it i will look it up! does it come costly? i dont know anything about it!

SmAsH · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2009, 12:28:32 AM »

a dremel is a cutting tool, imagine a small drill that you move around to cut things... like engraving...

Metal Slug 2 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2009, 04:04:54 PM »

What smash said, but to add to his comment, it is a small, hand held cutting/grinding/polishing/odd-job-that-larges-tools-cant-be-used-for kind of device. Price ranges vary alot with these tools (as with any really). i remember i got mine at a costco for only $30 (and is came with its own cutting/grinding/polishing tools

). They also can cost many hundreds of dollars. the differences between cheap and expensive, as with basically all tools is: speed, torque (horsepower), and vibration. a cheap dremel will have the a onepiece dremel where you bacially hold the motor in your hand as you work. An expensive one will have the motor attached to a chord leading to the chuck, which holds the bit. There is alos far less vibration so fine work can be done. oh and one for thing: "dremel" is only a brand of this tool, its actual name is "handheld rotary tool". Most people just reffer to them as dremels though...

Here is a link to what a dremel is: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4727625_rotary-tool-work.html

yash25 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2009, 04:15:21 PM »

Thank you! I'm planning to buy a good dremel in a few days the dremel 300 , i think ..for around 60$. so i'll probably be cutting my aluminium base with that then! I'm really looking forward to using it !

galannthegreat · « **Reply #19 on:** July 10, 2009, 12:28:19 AM »

It is a good idea to make all your own parts, but if they are cheap I'd recommend looking into purchasing a chassis, 'cause with parts that small they are bound to cause stress and grief. Though with a skilled hand and a lot of patience the Dremel will work wonders for you in your construction of your chassis.

Have a lot of fun, and remember to post some pics of your progress.

SmAsH · « **Reply #20 on:** July 10, 2009, 12:35:33 AM »

Quote from: galannthegreat on July 10, 2009, 12:28:19 AM

Have a lot of fun, and remember to post some pics of your progress.

and maybe even write a tutorial? heh, you could win an axon 2!

galannthegreat · « **Reply #21 on:** July 10, 2009, 12:37:41 AM »

Yes, please, it may (most likely will), help me with mine. and plus I'd like to see how your chassis and drive train choice come along.

galannthegreat · « **Reply #22 on:** July 10, 2009, 12:41:52 AM »

Here we go, I've been looking for this one I found awhile back:http://www.wildrobots.com/tank.htm

If you can find those things on ebay (sadly the posting of product no longer exists), it will work perfectly because with this system you don't need to stagger your wheels.

I'll try to get pic for you of the gearboxes I am talking about.

Soeren · « **Reply #23 on:** July 10, 2009, 06:12:22 AM »

Hi,

Quote from: Metal Slug 2 on July 07, 2009, 04:04:54 PM

[...] it is a small, hand held cutting/grinding/polishing/odd-job-that-larges-tools-cant-be-used-for kind of device.

Only Dremels should be called so, not the many clones of inferior quality (although they may be quite OK for most hobby stuff as long as the lifetime is compared with the price).

Quote from: Metal Slug 2 on July 07, 2009, 04:04:54 PM

[...] a cheap dremel will have the a onepiece dremel where you bacially hold the motor in your hand as you work. An expensive one will have the motor attached to a chord leading to the chuck, which holds the bit. There is alos far less vibration so fine work can be done. oh and one for thing: "dremel" is only a brand of this tool, its actual name is "handheld rotary tool". Most people just reffer to them as dremels though...

I assume you use the brand name in a generic sense too, from what you say and the lack of a capital "D" in the name.
I have to disagree though. With really expensive (pro) rotary tools (think $3k to $5k entry level), you hold the motor body in your hand and you won't feel any vibes even going a modest 50,000 RPM (with those tools, Dremel compares like a club to an atomic bomb) and even in the hobby market, you can buy the glass engravers that you hold directly as well.

Frankly, I never liked the Dremel cords (which can be used on both cheap and expensive Dremels), they are fat, heavy and clumsy and place your fingers way too far away from the router bits, since they don't have a shield over the rotating head (a bit dangerous) and I have better (lighter, thinner and more maneuverable) cords from Proxxon (which makes far better tools IMO) and from other manufacturers.

Also, I'm not too fond of using mains power on a motor that tends to spin out of your hand every now and then when going high speed w. a cutting disk or a coarse router bit.

For most rotary tool jobs I do, I tend to go way slower than any Dremel or clone ever could (like 100..300 RPM), for better control.
I use a smaller handheld unit with a homebrew constant speed controller/supply, making it very powerfull for its size.

Unfortunately, several of the manufacturers of a few decades ago seem to have turned belly up, but take a look at Proxxon, they have a nice range of tools: http://www.proxxon.com/

Soeren · « **Reply #24 on:** July 10, 2009, 06:23:00 AM »

Hi,

For a thin chassis, the alu of a coke can, can be made quite strong by folding the edges and make triangular patterns of channels with a small diameter ball shaped tool with a newspaper or similar underneath.

For a real light and strong chassis, use 2 angled layers of carbon fiber cloth with vacated poly-resin. Fittings and nuts can be moulded in between the layers for a very rigid assembly.

yash25 · « **Reply #25 on:** July 11, 2009, 11:17:47 AM »

Ok folks! Im sorry for being away from this thread for a whole day, but I was busy procuring a Dremel (which, believe me, is a real job here on this side of the world!) and getting my circuit etched...and right now, I hold in my hand, a brand new DREMEL 300 set! So that's one good news! And my circuit should be ready in a week and I will be getting my motors too, in that much time. So the real hard work should start in a week!

Further, Thanks to Soeren ! The coke can chasis is a brilliant idea!
To Galannthegreat: The wildrobots link is cool!I'd like to build an RC tank like that!
To Smash and Galannthegreat: Yea, if it works out fine, I'll make sure I get loads of pics and make a tutorial out of it!
Btw, Here's a question, is'nt the axon a controller board? Is it out as a prize or something???

Also, now that i'm building a microbot, I've gotten reeely inspired to build a tiny RC bot...is PICAXE the best thing there is in the market? Why is it so special? since i dont get this IC here in my country, im really intruged about it!

SmAsH · « **Reply #26 on:** July 11, 2009, 03:23:55 PM »

Quote

Ok folks! Im sorry for being away from this thread for a whole day

. . . this is a forum, not a chat. one day isn't much... a week is much

Quote

Btw, Here's a question, is'nt the axon a controller board? Is it out as a prize or something???

yes, admin holds a robot contest where the best tutorial wins. there are two prizes of $100us or an axon given away. the forum community votes for one winner, where admin chooses the other...
this year admin is giving away an axon 2!

Quote

Also, now that i'm building a microbot, I've gotten reeely inspired to build a tiny RC bot...is PICAXE the best thing there is in the market? Why is it so special? since i dont get this IC here in my country, im really intruged about it!

one project at a time! im not sure about the picaxe but its an alright mcu, ive never used it but ive heard good things. im an avr dude

Razor Concepts · « **Reply #27 on:** July 11, 2009, 08:56:15 PM »

PICAXE is just a PIC chip with special software loaded unto it that makes it very easy to program. You use BASIC to program it... personally, BASIC has gone too far in simplicity. Once you learn basic, it doesn't really help you much when you move on to more advanced stuff.

News:

Author Topic: the thinnest possible chasis material? (Read 4732 times)