I want to cut down weight on my bot so I was thing of switching to a 1 by 1 for the arm that would be cross braced instead of the traditional 2 wide c-channel. Only problem is that I don’t know if it is gonna be strong enough and I haven’t seen any team (on the robotics interview) do it so I’m not sure if its a good idea. I want to do this so a 5.5 motor is strong enough to move the arm instead of having to use a 11 wat motor.
I think it would be a good idea.
Strength is really if the mechanism sees a lot of collisions or heavy forces (example, drive). Considering you are considering using a single 5.5w motor, a 1x1 l channel should be a good choice.
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Some tips for strength:
- Channels with the 1x1 sides facing the ground are stronger than ones with the larger face facing the ground.
- Having multiple attachment points between parts increases strength and makes for a solid structure.
- Standoffs that hold parts horizontally don’t work for structural integrity. The allow for the robot to sag and that throws off the drivetrain, conveyor, and the mobile goal clamp.
Tips for Weight:
- Using high strength gears isn’t necessary for drivetrain, conveyor, or most anything else except elevation. It’s just extra weight. Use the normal gears for the generic purposes.
- Small drivetrains use less metal and have less weight than ones that fully fit the 18x18 inch limit.
- Try to limit the amount of metal as much as possible.