Pololu 5" Robot Chassis RRC04A extra deck question

I want to use the pololu chassis as the base for my robot project, but I need to mount a Lynxmotion robotic arm to it. So, my plan was to get a deck made (by your laser, possibly) that has mounts for the arm… but I don’t know any of the specs of the chassis. Could I just send you the specs of the arm and where I want it placed and have you cut a circle chassis with the holes for mounting the deck, and for the arm… or do I need to draw the whole thing out?

Also, how much would something like that cost?

Hello,

I don’t know how much the arm weighs, but I’m not sure if the chassis will handle the weight (or size). We wouldn’t do the file modification, but we can email you the drawing, and you can put in extra holes wherever you want. You can probably get two or three for our $25 minimum.

- Jan

I’ll do some thinking… I need some sort of chassis solution, but I’m not sure what…

Thanks for the help.

: Is it possible to just buy a small sheet of acrylic? maybe like 300mm square or 300mm x 600mm?

We’re not set up to sell acrylic. You should try to find a local place; they might even have free or cheap scrap. You might also ask local sign makers for supplier recommendations. If you want to order online, I’d just do some searches. I know we got some stuff from Sloan’s Woodshop many years ago (before we did laser cutting), so you might start there.

Acrylic also isn’t the best material if you’re not using a laser cutter. Some local robot guys like working with expanded PVC, which is available with different trade names like Sintra or Komatex. It’s light and quite easy to work with with using simple tools (I think you can cut it with a sharp knife).

- Jan

Thanks for the info. I live in a pretty closed off community… and in Canada. I only asked because I’m planning on buying other things, so it would save on shipping. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find something.

I’m also going to university in the fall, so worst case I can get some then. I can probably even get access to a CNC machine… :smiley:

Thanks for all your help.
-Matt

Just thought you might like to know what I ended up doing…

I found some scrap acrylic in my workshop and cut it up with a table saw and rotary-tool, then painted it red.

I went with a 5x5 square chassis.

Here are some pictures:




That looks nice, but I’m still wondering how stable it will be once you have the wheels on there.

- Jan

My parts are slated to arrive today, so we’ll see, I guess.

It feels pretty solid, it has some flex, but not much.

I’ll let you know how it works. :slight_smile:

I’m not talking about rigidity; it looks like the whole thing will tip over if you extend the arm much.

- Jan