Dubbed Red Bulls as the result of a joke that we just gave nut plates (another common part) wings, bumper slides are one of the two kinds of hardware we use to mount our bumpers. Our team uses a custom designed standard bumper mounting system on all our robots, with bumper slides acting as guides for the mortise and tenon joints that secure the bumper to the robot and ensuring that the side portions of our bumpers are not torn off during a violent impact.
The functionality of the bumper slides is very similar to that of T-slot hardware. Mounted to our frame rail by four 10-32 low profile bolts, countersunk flush to the surface, the bumper slide mates with an aluminum channel mounted inside the side of our bumpers, allowing the bumpers to sit flush with our frame rails. The bumper slides are machined from 6061 aluminum plate and require custom fixturing (shown below).
The jig is first fixtured to our machine using SMW mod vices and WCS is defined using the center 2” diameter hole. The machining process has two major setups, simplified descriptions of which are provided below.
Setup #1: Prepared stock material is placed on the left side of the jig, bumped against the 20 thou fence, and secured with two 1/4-20 bolts and strap clamps. The stock material is then faced, bored, and counterbored. The stock material is then bolted to the jig and the strap clamps and bolts are removed. Finally, the top profile and individual pieces are cut out.
Setup #2: Partially machined pieces are placed in corresponding pockets on the right side of the jig and secured with bolts, with the angled front facing the left side and the top profile facing down. The bottom profiles are then machined and the parts are deburred.
The CAM for the machining process is show in detail below. (NOTE: The CAM is programed to run both setups at once in one setup for simplicity and efficiency. Thus, the modeled stock material shown in the CAM is not to scale and may appear where there is no stock.)
