Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Miniture metal chain

You can make the chains yourself quite easily. Some guy on Robot Wars,
Battle Bots in the US, made a robot with some one he'd made himself, they
looked incredibly well done and never broke. You say HAZMAT, do you mean
that to it's full extent as in chemical spills etc? Because apart from the
numerous strong acids or alkalis your robot may have to crawl across, almost
every chemical weapon will also decompose into some sort of acid. Nerve
gases into hydrofluoric acid. Make sure you buy or make the tracks out of
something like high grade stainless steel or they'll rust up. The whole
thing should be washable as well.

You might actually want to have two sets of tracks, one from plastic and one
from metal. Then you could use the plastic ones for chemicals and the metal
for fires and the likes. Is it polypropylene that is used for handling
strong acids?

I think the guy on the TV made his like a watch strap. Each piece would
interlock with the next and then a pin passing through a hole on the
interlocking surface would stop them coming apart, just like where your
strap meets the watch's face. They overlapped in the main direction of
travel so there was less chance of them catching. Driving them could be done
by drilling holes into each plate and tensioning it between metal bogies
like on a tank with spikes sticking out of them a little to grab the holes
and pull the track. You could mill the plates with small spikes on to grab
at slippery floor, or weld them on.

Looks like interesting stuff anyway. You could fit a gas analyser to the arm
but they can get real pricey. I have a catalogue full of things like
explosive gas testers, poisonous gas testers, pH testers so if you are
thinking of adding something like that let me know and I'll check the
catalogue to see what's in there. I would suspect the reason for the other
being on remote control has something to do with RF interference with
possible bomb mechanisms. Are you planning to sell this to somewhere or is
it for part of your job?

If you'd like me to check the catalogue send me an email off list with a big
obvious title. [grin]

Regards,
John H.

> Ok, since my last question proved to be so easy, Riddle me this!
>
> Chain for power transmission is easy to find. Even multi-strand chain is

very common. One project I've been working on for months is a Radio
Controlled HAZMAT Rover and this Rover needs metal tracks / treads.

>
> (I've added photos in a folder called "Rover needs metal treads" at the

User group site.)

>
> Inuktun Services ( http://www.inuktun.com/ ) of Naniamo, British

Columbia has many outstanding designs far more advanced than mine. Their
designs are wire controlled while mine is Radio Controlled. Problem is that
both their design as well as mine rely on rubber treads that melt at
relatively low temperatures. At search and recovery efforts at the WTC,
Inuktun lost one of their rovers when the treads melted. All other robots
made it out ok and were key in rescuing victims. for more on this, check
out the CRASAR website ( http://www.csee.usf.edu/robotics/crasar/ ).

>
> I've been searching for metal treads with no luck. I thought of using

miniature bicycle type chain and ideally, multi-strand miniature chain.
problem is that that most chain is simply too big and heavy.

>
> During a tour of C & G Research (

http://candgresearch.domainvalet.com/ ) I spotted some unusually small
power transmission chain. By the way, the tour and talk with Chuck, head of
C&G Research was incredibly enlightening and impressive. Chuck is obviously
a master CNC Machinist and Design Engineer! Very nice custom work, Chuck!

>
> So, I've plowed my way through all the links you sent (Many thanks to you

all!) but I haven't found that supplier of light weight multi-strand chain
that can be used as robot tracks. What do you think, folks? Do you know of
that supplier who makes unusually small and light weight multi strand chain?
Any ideas on a better design? I want to stick with tracks / treads because
of their incredible climbing and turning power. Let me know your thoughts
and thanks for all your help!

>
> Scott
>
>
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