MAN UFACTUR IN G:
Creating Composite
Combat B ts
● by Bradley Hanstad of Team Think Tank ( www.twitter.com/teamthinktank)
The world of plastics and composites is considered a space
age science, yet the industry started
in the 1930s. Over the years, the
composite industry has evolved and
so has the amount of information.
Due to such a vast and wide range
of techniques, material options, and
terminology, I will be condensing
this data down considerably. Since
this is aimed for combat robot
enthusiasts, we will limit what gets
explained to a smaller scale focusing
on the work Team Think Tank has
done in the sport. The basic
elements of composites which will
be covered include wet layup and
vacuum bagging, leaving out
infusion, prepreg usage, autoclave
forming, etc. However, Team Think
Tank does have their own term
deemed the “auto-clave” which is
essentially a car parked in the sun on
a hot day. Sometimes when you
simply don’t have a clean room shop
with an unlimited budget and all the
tools in the world, you just need to
improvise.
Team Think Tank (TTT) consists
of myself (Bradley Hanstad), Ted
Shimoda, and several others over
the years that have chipped in to
get the team to the point we are
now. We have developed into the
only active robotic team using
composites to the extent that we
are. Our full line of robots from 150
grams to 220 lbs have numerous
composite manufacturing techniques
employed and various methods of
using materials from the industry in
an attempt to create some of the
VD6 — TTT’s 220 lb heavyweight robot —
showing off its outer carbon fiber layer,
as well as some added humor for all wedges.
most destructive — and the coolest
looking — combat robots in the
sport. As we are in the process of
rebuilding our heavyweight VD6,
expect to hear more from us in
the future. There will be an
opportunity to delve deeper into
secrets of our technical abilities
and skills used in building such a
large robot that you can only learn
SERVO 09.2010 35
