Robot Builders Source Book - Gordon McComb Episode 1 Part 9 pptx

SEE ALSO: Fasteners: To hold metal together Machine Framing: Extruded aluminum and plastic for building machine bodies Materials-Plastic: Substitute for metal Retail-Hardware & Home Imp

Materials-Metal

Some lament the end of “Detroit Iron,” the days when

American car manufacturers used tons of tin and

chrome for the bulbous cars of the 1940s and 1950s

Don’t let the same thing happen to robots! For a

heavy-duty robot, you need to consider metal, if not for the

frame or other structural components, then for the

body Most of the winning combat robots are made of

aluminum or steel (some even stainless steel) and

could dent a ‘55 Ford if the two ran into one another

Now that’s a robot!

Seriously, in this section are sources for and about

met-als suitable for use in robotics Several online metal

retailers are included, as well as some local

establish-ments that have Web sites you can look at Buying metal

through the mail can be expensive if you’re purchasing

large pieces of steel, as shipping costs mount

Therefore, depending on the material you are

purchas-ing, you may wish to look for a local resource before

turning to mail order

On the other hand, lightweight aluminum and brass

are readily shippable, especially if you purchase them in

the sizes closest to your end application That also limits

waste and helps reduce cutting metal to sizes

SEE ALSO:

Fasteners: To hold metal together

Machine Framing: Extruded aluminum (and

plastic) for building machine bodies

Materials-Plastic: Substitute for metal

Retail-Hardware & Home Improvement:

Handy local resource for metal stock (selectionmay be limited)

11 Forbes Rd

Woburn, MA 01801USA

 (781) 932-0482

 (781) 932-4265

 http://www.admiralmetals.comOnline (and local outlet store, in the Woburn, Mass.,area) metals supplier

Sells full lengths and cut pieces Rod, bar, tube, sheet,and plate in:

 (412) 553-4545

 http://www.alcoa.com/

Read about Reynolds Wrap and other aluminum ucts, plus a gaggle of various manufacturing materials.Technical documents are fairly hidden (when I lastlooked at the site); do a Web search on the Alcoa.comsite-minus the business articles-to look for the technicalbriefs

prod-Thanks to the Alcoa site, I learned this tidbit: “Makingaluminum from recycled scrap takes only 5% of theenergy it would take to make new metal from ore.” Howabout that!



2400 Merriam Ln

Kansas City, KS 66106USA

“Club” lighting novelties: LED glowsticks; laser

pens; “Light Cubes” (plastic ice cubes that light

Distributors of specialty lighting gear:

electrolumi-nescent wire, flat lighting, fiber optics

Metal supplies: aluminum and steel sheets, rods, tubes,

etc.; fasteners and hardware An excellent source for

aluminum, chromolly, and other homebuilt aircraft

construction supplies You don’t need to build an

air-plane; a robot will do

Large selection of aluminum extruded pieces,

includ-ing rods, angles, bars, and tubinclud-ing For many of the

products, the aluminum alloy (such as 6063/T52 or

7714 Roger St

Orange, TX 77632USA

 (509)-275-7370

 (888) 317-4594

 sales@americanflagstore.com

 http://www.americanflagstore.com/

8 Tips for Working with Metal

With the right tools, working with metal is only slightly harder than working with wood orplastic Here are some tips to streamline your metalworking

1 Always use sharp, well-made drill bits, saws, and files Dull, bargain-basement toolsaren’t worth the trouble

2 If you’re using a power drill or power saw, use the slower speed settings High speedsettings are for wood; slow for metal

3 For sawing metal, select a fine-tooth blade, on the order of 24 or 32 teeth per inch.Coping saws, keyhole saws, and other handsaws are generally engineered for woodcutting, and their blades aren’t fine enough for metalwork

4 When cutting rod, bar, and channel stock by hand, use a miter box The hardened

plastic and metal boxes are the best buys Be sure to get a miter box that lets you cut

at 45 degrees both vertically and horizontally

5 Use a punch to ensure accurate drilling When cutting metal, the bit will skate over thesurface until the hole is started The punch creates a small “dimple” in the metal thatreduces skating

6 Whenever possible, use a drill press to cut metal pieces

7 Always use a proper vise when working with a drill press Never hold the work with

your hands, or serious injury could result If you can’t place the work in the vise, use apair of Vice Grip pliers or other suitable locking pliers

8 Cutting and drilling leaves rough edges (called burrs and flashing) in the metal Thesemust be filed down using a medium- or fine-pitch metal file

Show your patriotism and put a flag on your robot! Or,

snoop around American FlagStore.com for such things

as fiberglass poles, lightweight aluminum poles, and

brass and aluminum metal balls-the balls sit atop the

flagpole and can be used to build all sorts of unusual

robot shapes Their flagpole balls come in sizes from 3

Offers aluminum, brass, and steel rods, bars, sheets,

plates, and extruded forms Sold in various sizes and

lengths Available in special cut lengths, for an

addi-tional charge Also: threaded rod, welding rod, acetal

and acrylic plastic pipes, rods, sheets, and plate

Burman also sponsors workshops on various making techniques on the first Saturday of each month

model-in beautiful downtown Van Nuys, Calif

x V

2540 Main St

Chula Vista, CA 91911USA

Web site for ASAP Source

Suppliers of casting ingots (aluminum, bronze,

pewter) Billed as “Your Art Sculpture Specialists.” Also

 (909) 483-3330

 (909) 483-3123

 info@du-mor.com

 http://www.du-mor.com/

Fasteners (including stainless steel), steel stock, shop

tools, ferrous and nonferrous pipe and fittings, cutting

tools and abrasives, hardware (swivels, brackets, etc.),

Fasteners and hardware, mainly for cabinetry Also

cast-ers, aluminum extrusions (squares, channels, bars),

plastic laminates, and foam products

x V

http://www.robotics.com/erector.txt

A FAQ on Meccano sets Maintained by author and

edi-tor Jeff Duntemann

x V

P.O Box 277Addison, TX 75001USA

Web site in English, French, German, and Spanish

V

444 Wilson St

Tipton, IN 46072USA

FlagandBanner.com sells metal flag

Online retailer of specialty alloys for specialty projects,

such as Hastelloy, Inconel, Monel, Nitronic, cobalt

based, and commercially pure nickel Stock includes

bar, wire, sheet, plate, and fasteners

Note that many of these alloys are much tougher than

aluminum and even steel If you plan on working with

these metals, be sure you have the proper tools For

example, many desktop machine lathes and mills are

not powerful enough for the tougher alloys; you need

full-size machinery to do the job right

Metals: aluminum, brass, cast iron, chrommoly, copper,

hobbyist “miniature” shapes and extrusions, silicon

bronze, stainless, and steel

Locations in Sun Valley, Irvine, and San Diego, Calif.,

and Phoenix, Ariz

K&S Engineering makes all those metal rods, bars, and

other pieces you see in hobby stores across North

America They sell strictly to retailers (including some

home improvement centers), though you can find their

wares through online sources as well Product line

con-sists of steel, aluminum, and brass, in bar, tube, square,

sheet, foils, and shim Lengths from 12 inches to 48

met- x 

Metal Supermarkets International 203158

170 Wilkinson Rd

Unit 18 Brampton, ONL6T 4Z5Canada

 (905) 459-0466

 (905) 459-3690

 (800) 807-8755

 http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

Metals; local stores See the Web site for a store locator

http://www.suppliersonline.com

Metal Stock at the Corner Hardware Store

Have a hankering to construct the next Terminator robot? You’ll need about $300,000 intitanium to do it A better idea: Make another robot and settle for commonly available

metal stock, such as aluminum plate, channel, and rod Your local hardware or home

improvement store is the best place to begin Here’s what you’ll find at the

better-stocked stores

Extruded Aluminum and Steel

Extruded metal stock is made by pushing molten metal out of a

shaped orifice Extruded aluminum and steel come in 2-, 3-, 4-, 6-,

or 8-foot sections; some stores will let you buy cut pieces Aluminum

is lighter and easier to work with, but steel is stronger Use steel

when you need the strength; but otherwise, opt for aluminum

Extruded aluminum and steel is available in more than two

dozen common styles, from thin bars to pipes to square posts

Although you can use any of it as you see fit, a couple of standard

sizes may prove to be particularly beneficial in your robot-building

blade) The plates have numerous predrilled holes in them to facilitate hammering withnails, but you can drill new holes where you need them

Mending plates are available in lengths of about 4, 6, and 12 inches by 4 or 6 inches

wide, and also in 2-inch-wide T shapes You can usually find mending plates, angles, andother steel framing hardware in the nail and fastener section of the home improvementstore

Iron Angle Brackets

You need a way to connect all the metal pieces together The easiest way is to use nized iron brackets, located in the hardware section of the store Angle brackets come in

galva-a vgalva-ariety of sizes galva-and shgalva-apes galva-and hgalva-ave predrilled holes to fgalva-acilitgalva-ate construction The inch-wide brackets fit easily into the two sizes of channel stock mentioned previously Youneed only to drill a corresponding hole in the channel stock and attach the pieces

3/8-together with nuts and bolts The result is a very sturdy and clean-looking frame You’llfind the flat corner angle iron, corner angle (“L”), and flat mending iron to be particular

useful

Extruded aluminum (and steel) comes in common bar, angle, and channel shapes.

Extensive listings of metal suppliers and fabricators,

with addresses and (for most) brochures or catalogs

Metals (and some plastic) by mail Walk-in stores,

pri-marily in Midwest and Great Lakes areas of the U.S., as

well as Texas and North Carolina

The following major product types are available:

• Aluminum

• Alloy and steel “cold rolled”; steel “hot rolled”

• Brass, bronze, copper

• Cast iron

• Drill rod

• Nickel silver

• Plastic

• Sheet and plate, tubing

• Stainless, tool steel

 x V

366 West Nickerson Lower LevelSeattle, WA 98119USA

Metals-rod, sheet, and all the rest Materials include

steel, aluminum, stainless, brass, copper, bronze,

A 26,000-ton inventory of steel and metal Stock

includes aluminum, stainless, copper, and brass in

extruded shapes, plates, sheets, and expanded sheets

They will cut and shape to order

Specializes in custom nonferrous alloys (mostly

alu-minum); accepts small orders

x 

932-40 Hunting Park Ave

Retailer of metals, plastics, and substrates: aluminum

and other metals, Showcard, Sign Foam, Foamcore,

Gatorfoam, Coroplast, Sintra (PVC), Signboards,

Styrene, and others

Stainless steel sheets For the hard-bodied bots

208 Portland Road Hove

BN3 5QTUK

x V

P.O Box 429North San Juan, CA 95960USA

met-x V

410 Pine St

Highland, IL 62249USA

Small aircraft parts; specialty fasteners Note: This is not

little model aircraft stuff, but stuff for small

aircraft-ones people can climb into Products of particular

interest to robobuilders are:

• Composite materials (epoxy, foam, cloth)

• Steel, aluminum, plastic

• Hardware (bolts, nuts, washers, etc.)

• Control system accessories

• Wheels, brakes, tires

You can order most products online either by browsing

Aluminum, brass, copper, steel, stainless steel, and

other metals in tube, bar, pipe, square, sheet, plate, and

other shapes The Web site lists 1,000 items for online

sale; the company warehouses 10,000 items, so be sure

to call if you need something special Local retail stores

in Cleveland, Ohio, and Clearwater, Fla

x V

Herein is the catch-all section for materials that don’t

fit neatly elsewhere Includes wood (including specialty

stocks for wood turning-handy stuff for superstrong

robot bodies), wire, various hunks of specialty

hard-ware, specialty adhesive tapes, and jewelry findings

What are jewelry findings? They are small plastic or

metal pieces used to make jewelry Several common

types are useful in the construction of smaller robots

For example, earring posts and earring backs can be

used to make miniature linkages Small beads can be

used as spacers and even bearings; jump rings can be

used to attach small parts (they’re bendable with

pli-ers); and spacer bars can be used as tiny linkages

 x 

1040 E Oakland Park Blvd

Ft Lauderdale, FL 33334USA

spe-wood plyspe-woods for robot bases Precision routing

acces-sories are useful for making special cuts in wood and

Supplies and tools for the turning (lathe) woodworker

Among their product line:

• Adhesives-Insta-Bond, Hot Stuff, Excel Glue, epoxy

• Alternative materials-ivory(fake), Tagua Nuts,

Acrylester

• Finishing-buffing, finishes, waxes, polishes, dyes

• Sanding-power sanding, Velcro discs, Power-Lock,

paper

• Shop accessorieswork lamps, face shields, airugs

• Wood blanks-bowl blanks, turning squares, exotics

• Wood lathes

• Wood-turning tools

Ofparticular interest are the wood blanks Most of

these are fairly exotic woods, but they’re not all that

expensive A benefit of these exotics is that many are

extremely hard and/or dense (like carob) and are a

lot stronger than a piece ofpine or some other

com-mon wood You might want to consider one ofthese

exotics ifyou are building a robot with wood and need

strength for the base, risers, or some other

compo-nent

Smaller variations of these blanks can be found in the

Pen Blanks category and include both wood, celluloid,

and something called Environ, a manufactured

mate-rial that looks like granite or wood, but is actually

newsprint and soybean by-products Pen blanks are

usu-ally about 3/4 by 5 inches

prod- x 

EFA-Strasse 1

92318 NeumarktGermany

mod-

One Fire Mountain WayGrants Pass, OR 37526-2373USA

Electric Highways, Inc.

Surplus high power magnets

Golf Cart Trader

 (800) 355-2137

 questions@firemtn.com

 http://www.firemountaingems.com/

Small precision tools; jewelry supplies Think out of the

box on this one

Manufacturer of electronics hardware-things like case

handles, spacers, thumbscrews, retainers, and fasteners

 x 

Mountaintop Golf Cars, Inc

Wood, tools, and supplies for the precision

wood-turn-ing crafter They offer:

• Wood and synthetic pen blanks-small blocks ofwood (usually about 3/4 by 5 inches) intended formaking pens using a lathe You can use the blanksfor anything Pen-blank material is typically strongand dense and is ideal when you require structuralstrength in some part of your robot

• Wood-turning and metal lathes-resellers of theSherline lathes, as well as the VEGA Mini LatheDuplicator

• Acrylic rod-clear and colored

• Dyed plywood-Small sheets (11 by 12 inches) ofBaltic birch plywood; 0.350-inch thick

 x V

P.O Box 510035New Berlin, WI 53151-0035USA

hand- x V

503 Giuseppe Ct

Ste 4Roseville, CA 95678USA

Hardware for Hard Robot Bodies

Small, lightweight robots don’t need heavy-duty construction A little scrap of wood or

plastic, some glue, maybe a piece of Velcro, and you’re done But bigger robots need astronger means of holding things together Enter construction hardware—things like nuts,bolts, angles, and extruded aluminum

Here are some common items you’ll want to have around your shop Much of it can befound at the corner hardware or home improvement store Online and mail-order sourcesoffer greater variety If you’re looking to buy a lot of some given hardware, you can oftenpurchase it in quantity at a significant discount

Fasteners

The most basic hardware is fasteners The following descriptions pertain to SAE-size

threads, but similar sizes are available in the metric world

• Machine screws Available in different diameters, amateur robots use mainly number 4,

6, 8, and 10 machine screws (4/40, 6/32, 8/32, and 10/24, respectively) Common

lengths are from 1/4 inch to 2 inches; you’ll probably use the 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch

lengths the most

• Nuts Hex nuts are the most common and cheap, but also consider T-nuts (also called

blind nuts), which can be used with wood and soft plastics Also look for locking nuts,which are like standard hex nuts but with a nylon insert; the nylon helps prevent the

screw from working itself loose

• Washers Flat washers act to spread out the compression force of a fastener They’re

available in sizes to complement the size of machine screw or bolt you are using Tooth(internal or external) and split lock washers help prevent the nut from coming loose

• All-thread rod This is sold in 1- to 3-foot lengths It comes in the same standard thread

sizes and pitches All-thread is good for shafts and linear motion actuators and to makebolts of any given length Buy it when you need it

The cheap zinc-plated screws, nuts, and washers are fine, but if you want a more tech look, try the black anodized variety When weight is a problem, opt for nylon hard-ware It’s a little more expensive than metal, and not quite a strong, but considerably

hi-lighter

When buying machine screws, you have a choice of a variety of heads and drivers

Common machine screws come in round-head, flat-head, pan-head, or Fillister-head

varieties; round-head or pan-head is adequate for most uses, and they are cheaper whenbought in quantity (Okay, okay, there are about three dozen additional machine screw

head geometries, but I’m not going to list them all Most of the specialty varieties are notgenerally available except in large quantities.)

Most machine screws available at the hardware store are slotted for flat-bladed drivers You may instead wish to use Phillips, Torx, square drive, Pozidrive, or hex head(Allen wrench) screws, which require the proper screwdriver Slotted screws are cheaper

screw-to make, so they cost less But there’s a risk of stripping out the slot if overtightened

Specialty drive screws can be tightened and loosened without as much risk of strippingout the head

Extruded Aluminum

Robot frames and other pieces can be constructed out of extruded aluminum Designedfor such applications as show trim, picture frames, and other handy applications,

extruded aluminum comes in various sizes, thicknesses, and configurations Length is

usually 8 or 12 feet, but if you need less, most hardware stores will cut to order

 (916) 780-9610

 (916) 780-9617

 sales@jewelrysupply.com

 http://www.jewelrysupply.com/

Online jewelry-making and craft supplies, miniature

tools Check the section on jewelry findings Great

source for teeny-tiny parts and tools

• 1/2- and 3/4-inch-wide bar

Zinc-Plated Steel Angle Brackets

Standard hardware angle brackets are ideal for general

robotics construction You can use the brackets to build the

frame of a robot constructed with aluminum extrusion

stock Common sizes are:

• 1 1/2-inch by 3/8-inch flat corner brackets—used when

joining pieces cut at 45-degree angles to make a frame

• 1-inch by 3/8-inch, and 1 1/2-inch by 3/8-inch corner angle

brackets—used when attaching the stock to base plates

and when securing various components (like motors) to

the robot

Keep in mind that angle brackets are heavy, and if you

use a lot of them, they can add considerably to the weight

or your robot If you must keep weight down, consider

sub-stituting angle brackets for other mounting techniques,

including gluing, brazing (for metal), or screws fastened directly into the frame or base

material of your robot

Use extruded aluminum to make robot frames, bodies, arms, and other components.

Angle brackets are used in general robot construction.

 (800) 348-3497

 customerservice@midwestproducts.com

 http://www.midwestproducts.com/

Balsa wood and basswood and kits Sold in hobby stores

or by mail Other woods available, including thin

ply-wood, cherry, and spruce

 x 

Musical Instrument Technicians

http://www.mitatechs.com/

MITA stands for Association of Worldwide Professional

Technicians Their Web site is really a gold mine of

links, resources, and catalogs of companies that

special-ize in parts for musical instruments These parts

include all kinds of little worm gears (guitar tuners),

clamps, valves, and lots more A robot built from

musi-cal instrument parts may not be able to carry a tune, but

it can be cheaper to make

 contact@notions-marketing.com

 http://www.notions-marketing.com/

Distributor of a broad line of notions to sewing and

craft stores Publishes a huge printed catalog There is a

$250 minimum opening order, so your best bet is to

find their wares at local fabric and craft stores

Wood parts Lots of ‘em Includes wheels, pins, biscuits

(oval-shaped thin wood for parts and shims), cubes,

dowels, and lots more Most of the product is used to

make small wooden toys or as miniatures for doll

houses Obvious uses as robobits

x V

Tower Fasteners Co., Inc 202639

1690 North Ocean Ave

Holtsville, NY 11742USA

fas- V

9667 Canoga Ave

Chatsworth, CA 91311USA



P.O Box 1686Parkersburg, WV 26102-1686USA

 x V

Gummy Transfer Tape

Here’s an old trick: Suppose you want some “stickum,” but can’t use tape One way is toapply a coating of rubber cement over some waxed paper Wait half a minute for thecement to congeal, then gently “roll up” the residue into small clumps You can now stickthe stickup where you need it

One disadvantage of this technique is that rubber cement tends to dry out, and itsstickum doesn’t stay sticky for long

Transfer tape is an option This stuff, which is also called unsupported adhesive tape,

looks like double-sided tape, but it’s engineered to leave its sticky residue, and no tape.It’s meant for such jobs as electronics production, where workers apply small dabs ofsticky substances to hold down wires and components Transfer tape, such as the stuffmade by tesa AG in Germany, is applied by first placing the material as you would anyother tape You then peel off the waxed paper, and what’s behind is a layer of very stickygoo Unlike rubber cement, transfer tape stickum remains tacky and semiflexible Transfer tape is available from art supply stores, adhesive specialists, and electronicsproduction supply outfits You can find it online with these Google.com searches (don’tlook just for “transfer tape”; that won’t cut it):

“transfer tape” “tesa 4900”

+”transfer tape” +”waxed backing”

“unsupported adhesive” tape

Here are some online sellers of adhesive transfer tape (note that some tapes workbest when used with a specially made dispenser):

Curry’s Art Store Limited

http://www.currys.com/

Hillas Packaging

http://www.hillas.com/

Blenderm: Sticky Stuff without Gummy Residue

3M’s Blenderm is a waterproof adhesive bandage that is intended to be used on people,but is also pretty handy with robots The semiclear tape is available in different widths up

to 2 inches, and it sticks to practically anything Yet it doesn’t leave much gummy junkbehind, and it stays flexible for an eternity Possible ideas: Use it to construct hinges ormovable flaps

You can sometimes find Blenderm at local drug stores, but be wary of the cheaper

brands You want the real stuff, so make sure it says 3M and Blenderm

If you can’t find it locally, try on the Web, using the following Google search:

Manufacturer of sewing and craft notions, including

fusing tape (heat it up and it congeals with a stickiness)

The products are available at fabric and craft stores

x 

Laminates

A laminate is a sheet composed of two materials glued

together, almost like a sandwich

Laminates save money by using only a small amount of

the expensive outside material, relying on the inside

material to supply most of the bulk Because two kinds

of materials are cemented together, they tend to

rein-force one another

A commonly available laminate is foam core, available

at most craft and art supply stores The material is

com-posed of compressed Styrofoam (or similar), lined on

both sides with heavy colored paper You can cut foam

core with a knife or a small hobby saw, and ordinary

paper glue can be used to hold the cut pieces together

Foam core is the most common paper laminate, but it’s

by far not the only one There is a wide variety of paper

and even plastic laminate sheets available, and many

brands are listed here Some manufacturers of paper

and plastic sell directly, but most want you to purchase

their goods from arts and craft retailers For those

mak-ers that don’t sell directly, you can see their Web sites

for handy application notes and material-handling

datasheets

SEE ALSO:

Materials-Foam and Materials-Plastic:

Make your own foam core

Retail-Arts & Crafts: Sources for paper

Ships by UPS or orders available for will-call pickup.Retail store room in Monrovia, Calif

$ V

5325 Departure Dr

Raleigh, NC 27616-1835USA

 (530) 272-1133

 (530) 272-1070

 http://www.goldenwestmfg.com/

25140 Terra Industrial Dr.

Chesterfield Twp., MI 48043USA

x V

Cardboard Substrates

When I was a little kid, I sent away for a fiberboard submarine I didn’t know what board” meant, and I hoped they would send me a real metal submarine It turned out thatfiberboard is just another name for cardboard, the stuff they make shipping boxes out of

“fiber-In fact, my submarine was just a square box with a submarine shape (two colors, no

less!) printed on it

Cardboard may not make for good submarines, but—surprise!—it can be used as aneffective construction material for robotics Not just any cardboard, though Common

cardboard consists of two thin sheets (liner boards) of paper sandwiched to a corrugatedinner core, or medium The thickness and material used for the inner corrugated mediumdetermines the overall rigidity of the cardboard Cardboard for shipping boxes is too light-weight for most robot projects

A better kind is called honeycomb board This is a special kind of cardboard that uses a

thick honeycomb medium Thickness can vary from 1/2 inch to several inches Honeycombboard is available at many art supply stores and is used in model making For robotics, itcan be sandwiched to a thin carrier, such as plywood or plastic, or even metal The carrierneed not be thick; the strength of the sandwich material will come from the cardboard

Compared to both cardboard and foam core, honeycomb board (that’s a generic termfor it, by the way) is quite expensive However, it has good structural characteristics

When used properly, honeycomb board can hold over 100 pounds

Manufacturer of casting resins (both rigid and

flexi-ble), machinable plastic, foam board, and tools for cast

and mold making Their machinable plastic includes a

product known as Butter-Board, a lightweight plastic

block that is nonabrasive and very easy to machine or

work with hand tools

R & J Sign Supply 202678

R & J Sign specializes in materials for sign makers Of

particular interest to us robot constructors is Sign

Foam; they also sell several other lightweight—yet

strong—substrates that can be used to build machine

bodies and other parts Sign Foam is a rigid

high-den-sity urethane material available in several different

weights It’s easy to cut and can be “sculpted” to various

shapes Also sells Alumalite (aluminum over foam),

cor-rugated plastic, and PVC foam board

Think out of the box on this one-literally, out of the

shipping box ULINE caters to people who ship things

by mail or freight That means cardboard boxes and

Home page for R & J Supply.

lots of other interesting things, like foam padding,

tubes, shrink wrap, and tons of other stuff ULINE is

one of the largest mail room supply companies, and

they’ll send you a full-color catalog in a heartbeat

Some interesting products you might want to consider

for robot construction, for shipping, or for the

work-shop:

• Antistatic packing materials (foam, tubing,

shield-ing bags, and bubble pack)

• Foam for shipping boxes

• Bubble bags and sheets

• Clear and colored mailing tubes, with and without

Most everyone knows the famous line in the movie The

Graduate, where, at Dustin Hoffman’s graduation

party, a man comes up to him and tells him to get into

the one business of the future, “plastics.” What

audi-ences worldwide don’t know is that the man was really

talking about plastics used in amateur robots Both

plas-tics and robots are the wave of the future, so it makes

sense they are connected at the hip

This section details resources for affordable plastics

that can be used in the construction of robot frames,

bases, and shells Many of the listings are for online

retailers, though some are for local establishments

Plastics specialty outlets and sign makers are among the

best sources of plastics for robot bodies

In a pinch, you can purchase a small sheet of acrylic or

polycarbonate plastic at the local hardware store But

these plastics are harder—and in the case of acrylics,

prone to cracking—than such specialty plastics as PVC,ABS, Delrin, styrene, and nylon

Note that if you purchase sheet plastics from a specialtyretailer, you may have to buy an entire sheet, which is 4

by 8 feet Most will cut it for you If you don’t need thatmuch material, most retailers have a “junk bin” ofexcess plastic pieces; scrounge through it to see whatyou can find

One possible problem with this method: Unless youknow your plastics, you may end up buying material that

is more trouble than it’s worth There are some resinplastics that are difficult to cut and drill and which willnot respond to solvent cements intended for the morecommon PVC, ABS, and styrene plastics Ifyou’re notsure what kind ofplastic you’ve found, be sure to ask

 (615) 350-6500

 (800) 321-0365

 webmaster@advanced-plastics.com

 http://www.advanced-plastics.com/

Advanced Plastics is a wholesale distributor of a variety

of fiberglass-reinforced plastic products, as well as castpolymers, thermoplastics, and sign products/supplies.Product offerings include expanded foam PVC in avariety of colors

Foam Core Substrates

Foam core is part foam, part paper It is available from art supply stores, in thicknessesfrom 1/8 to 1 inch Construction is simple: An inner foam sheet is sandwiched on both

sides with high-quality paper Foam core is cheap, easy to cut with a hobby knife or smallscroll saw, and can be readily glued

You can provide extra rigidity to foam core by combining it with another thick substrate,such as cardboard, thin metal, or plastic However, depending on thickness and weightloads, foam core can be used by itself

Also offers Sign Foam, a heavier-bodied rigid

polyurethane foam that can be drilled, carved, cut, and

routed According to the site: “Sign Foam is a

light-weight, high density polyurethane board that possesses

remarkable strength and durability It is unlike any

other foam you may have used in strength,

hard-ness, chemical resistance, structural durability, screw

holding capabilities, and thermal expansion and

Plastic products, including acrylic sheet, expanded

foamed PVC (Sintra), corrugated plastic Also sells

Bienfang Foamboard, Pillocore Foamcore, and Ultra

Board (polystyrene foam core)

Ships by UPS or orders available for will-call pickup

Retail store room in Monrovia, Calif

American is a wholesale supplier of plastic sheet and

related products Products include:

• Welding rod (thermoplastic, ABS)

• Solvents and cements

LTEK Industries, Inc

2284 S Industrial Hwy

Ann Arbor, MI 48104USA

x V

Unit H1, High Flatworth Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate North Shields, Tyne & WearNE29 7UZ

16 90 North Ocean Ave

Holtsville, NY 11 742USA

fas- V

96 67 Canoga Ave

Chatsworth, CA 91 3 11USA



P.O Box 16 86Parkersburg,... International 20 315 8

17 0 Wilkinson Rd

Unit 18 Brampton, ONL6T 4Z5Canada

 (90 5) 45 9- 0 466

 (90 5) 45 9- 3 690

 (800) 80 7-8 755

... Acrylic rod-clear and colored

• Dyed plywood-Small sheets (11 by 12 inches) ofBaltic birch plywood; 0.350-inch thick

 x V

P.O Box 510 035New Berlin, WI 5 315 1- 0 035USA