wood or metal?

[roboboy12]

when designing my bot i have a dellema metal or wood?

[bryan922]

That seems like a matter of artistic design and physical requirements. I personally would opt for metal nearly every time, except perhaps if I was creating something like a four legged chair that could walk around - or some other interesting contraption.

However, for prototyping, I might use what was most easily available and shaped, which might be wood.

[jamort]

depends what you have to work with if you have the tools aluminum...

[roboboy12]

i dont have much its all wood tools

[airman00]

i dont have much its all wood tools

then I guess you don't really have a choice among materials

[Canabots]

Personally, I would choose wood.

The Advantages:
1. Easy to shape
2. Easily available
3. Low cost
4. Durable
5. Non-Conductive (no worry for short circuits)

The Disadvantages:
1. Can be really heavy or too dense (depends on type of wood)
2. Cannot bend easily
3. It will absorb water and start to disintegrate
4. Can crack/split easily

(A bit unrelated) I've heard many great things about sintra. A plastic which bends easily at low temperatures, can be cut easily, and does not require specific tools for shaping. It works well with glue and apparently, you can also get sintra at sign shops as scraps for low prices. This material might also be suitable for your robot (I've never used it before, but I plan on it in the future).

Good luck with your robot!

[roboboy12]

 8)i think ill go with wood, i googled sintra but i didnt like the material. Thanks for the help everybody!

[airman00]

but i didnt like the material.

why?

[roboboy12]

it had a low exterior streanth value and my bot is an atv securaty bot

with cameras

[airman00]

it had a low exterior streanth value and my bot is an atv securaty bot

I disagree
Read this : http://www.solarbotics.net/starting/200207_sintra/sintra_manual.pdf
Look at page 34 .

You obviously did not do much research....

[bryan922]

Thin aluminum plate (thicker aluminum sheets) can be cut with a jig saw and refined with a Dremel tool. Such aluminum is not that expensive and easily available at most metal suppliers.

[dellagd]

meatl in small robotics is just too heavy for what it needs to do.
Defiantly go with wood. 

[airman00]

meatl in small robotics is just too heavy for what it needs to do.
Defiantly go with wood. 

not quite...

the aluminum sheets that are used in robots are LIGHTER than the wood equivalent ( strengthwise)

[dellagd]

meatl in small robotics is just too heavy for what it needs to do.
Defiantly go with wood.
not quite...

the aluminum sheets that are used in robots are LIGHTER than the wood equivalent ( strengthwise)

true...
aluminum is stronger but it is also more expensive.

[offy]

I would go with plastic, and for mounting stuff I will use metal.

[jamort]

It epends on person/ tolls you have... plastic is an ok material but metal is better to me because if I have the right tools I'd rather work with metal