Our team have noticed that the AMOGO bot from H-W used polycarbonate sheets for their intake and wanted to try that out too!. How do you cut and screw in polycarbonate sheets?
For cutting polycarbonate sheets I always use tin snips which seem to work best for me, but you could also use a laser cutter, and for screwing them I drill holes with a drill press.
The rules say that
A limited amount of custom plastic is allowed. Robots may use non shattering plastic from the following list; polycarbonate (Lexan), acetal monopolymer (Delrin), acetal copolymer (Acetron GP), POM (acetal), ABS, PEEK, PET, HDPE, LDPE, Nylon (all grades), Polypropylene, FEP; as cut from a single 12” x 24” sheet up to 0.070” thick.
You are allowed to use the plastic listed here. For cutting it, you can use a hacksaw, bandsaw, tin snips, cnc machine, router, score it with an knife or something sharp and snap it, any of those methods. For screwing it in, I find it best to use a 11/64 drill bit and drill holes in it, so you can put a screw through it.
Alternatively, if you want to, you could always use plate or wider c-channel there.
If you use polycarb thinner than 0.07" (the maximum thickness), you can even cut it with a good pair of scissors. But for max thickness, I’d recommend at least using tinsnips, you can get good cuts as long as they don’t need to be super precise.
My team doesn’t have the funds to afford fancy laser cutters to create precise cuts, but we make do with a cutting and sanding dremmel, works with no issues
A vote for scissors for the main shape, and either a rivet punch near an edge, or a hammer punch anywhere else for the screw holes. (4mm for M4 screws)
I would like to note that “fancy laser cutters” do cause chlorine gas and is not advised for health reasons.
But back to the original question I highly suggest using a saw for more precise pieces and using scissors or tinsnips to less precise one. If you want precise pieces I suggest using CAD and to print out a sheet and mark all the holes and sides precisely.
This depends on what you cut- if you are cutting most of the legal plastics, then yes, there will be some harmful gas. But it can be okay if you have a safe setup for doing so, if you have something like a ventilated enclosure or a fume hood.
I would see this thread for more information.
The polycarbonate on AMOGO was cut with a bandsaw and drilled with a drill press. For simple parts like in AMOGO where it’s a rectangle with some holes, these tools are a luxury and not a necessity.
Often we will use tin snips, a #19 drill bit (higher quality) or 11/64 drill bit (lower quality) with a hand drill. For tin snips, the more standard kind leaves a marked edge on the polycarbonate. The ones I linked will not leave marks on the plastic.
A marker, a square and a center punch will go a long way in making sure everything is aligned correctly, and should be used in addition to bandsaws and belt sanders.
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