Taking your FRC robot to the next level: A comprehensive guide to 3D printing 2025 radio mounts
The quiet anticipation on the field, the flashing lights, the roar of the crowd – the FRC season is characterized by intense competition and innovative moments. In the pre-season scramble, one seemingly small but absolutely crucial component is often overlooked, and that’s the radio mount. For the 2025 season, ensuring that the robot’s brain (radio) installation is safe and reliable cannot be ignored. This guide takes an in-depth look at how to utilize 3D printing technology to create the best FRC 2025 radio bracket that maximizes performance, durability, and weight efficiency.
Why your radio stand is more important than you think
Radios are the lifeblood of robots. It transmits important driver controls and receives important sensor data. Failure here means the death of a robot on the field – a situation no team wants to face. Traditional mounting methods, such as zip ties or hastily drilled brackets, are prone to disconnection from vibration, physical damage from impact, and cumulative stress failure. A less secure radio may:
- Resulting in intermittent communication outages during matches.
- If a connector becomes loose or a wire is snagged, it can cause the robot to shut down completely.
- Add unnecessary vibration stress to electronic equipment.
- Increased weight due to inefficient use of materials.
Custom-designed 3D printed mounts address these issues by providing a safe, vibration-dampening, precisely mounted enclosure Specifically Suitable for FRC regulated radio models and unique robot structures and mounting points.
Designing your ultimate FRC 2025 radio stand: key considerations
A well-thought-out design is crucial before you start “printing.” Here are the specific key factors for FRC 2025:
- Security integration: Match the geometry of the official Control System Component (CSC). Integrates the Kensington lock slot connection point feature prominent in the latest radio models.
- Powerful vibration damping: Use compliant materials (such as TPU filament) or design integrated isolation feet or mounting points within the structure itself. Prioritize decoupling the radio from frame vibrations.
- Optimized weight: Utilizes a lattice structure, strategic internal ribbing, and minimizing solid filling in non-critical areas to reduce weight without sacrificing strength. The weight saved on the mount is weight elsewhere!
- Enhanced wire management: Incorporate integrated channels, clips, or strain relief near Ethernet and power input jacks to prevent wires from becoming tangled or pulled loose during vigorous handling.
- Component cooling: Includes carefully placed ventilation slots or channels around the radio housing. Active airflow from fans is less common; passive cooling design is key.
- Powerful fault prevention: Design an enclosure to prevent accidental button presses or port disconnection during a crash. Consider using hinged lids or security snap lids to protect access.
- FRC Field Resilience: Priority is given to materials and orientations that resist cracking under impact loads typical of FRC competition. Strategically support mounting points that are prone to twisting or bending.
From design to reality: the 3D printing process
Choosing the right materials and print settings can turn a good design into a championship-worthy part:
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Material selection: workhorse
- Polyethylene glycol: First choice for most structural robot parts. Excellent interlayer adhesion, impact resistance, chemical resistance (including ethanol cleaning agent), good toughness, and good dimensional stability during printing. Affordable and widely available.
- ASA: Excellent UV resistance (suitable for sunny competition venues), heat resistance comparable to ABS, and excellent inter-layer adhesion. Consider this for installations in exposed locations or in auxiliary electronics enclosures.
- Nylon (PA6/PA12): Unparalleled toughness, fatigue resistance and wear resistance. Ideal for installations where repeated impact or pressure is expected. Preprints need to be carefully dried and often require a hotter printing environment (hotter extruder and chamber).
- TPU (flexible filament): Vibration-absorbing feet, spacers or integrated dampers within rigid mounts (multi-material prints or hybrid structures) are essential.
- Optimize your printing settings:
- Floor height: For fine details or top surfaces, stick to 0.2mm; 0.3mm is usually strong enough for faster print times. Avoid heights exceeding recommended nozzle diameters.
- Wall thickness/circumference: The physical part? It’s often counterproductive. use 3-4 girth combine Fill 25-40% (Use Gyroid/Cubic mode) for optimal strength-weight balance.
- Filling: Helix and cube filling provide isotropic strength and effective vibration damping. avoid grid Due to potential weaknesses where intersections overlap. Lower fill percentages require greater girth to achieve the same strength.
- Solid layer: At least 3-4 Top and bottom layers above the infill prevent the visibility of the infill and greatly increase strength. The installation of fixed load-bearing bolts is crucial.
- support: Design a connection-enabled interface for easy access after printing. Set support Z offset appropriately to minimize scarring when using PETG/PETG or Nylon/Nylon interface (smaller offset) compared to PETG/TPU (requires larger offset).
- direction: Orient parts so that critical mounting features (bosses, clip interfaces) gain maximum strength from a continuous perimeter. Minimize large flat areas on the build platform to reduce warping (especially PETG/ASA). Whenever possible, print the bosses/spiral towers vertically.
Beyond printing: necessary post-processing
Don’t underestimate the importance of completion:
- Accurate component testing: Test printed mounts with radio unit, screws and conduit fittings forward Give it to the robot. Verify connector clearance and routing paths.
- Fastener inserts: Use a suitable threadlocker on the screws that insert into the plastic boss. consider Heat setting inserts (Brass/rivet nut style) Ideal for mounts requiring frequent installation/disassembly cycles, greatly improving thread life and torque flexibility.
- Stress concentration: Use sandpaper, a file, or an abrasive tool to smooth out sharp inside corners near mounting points to prevent cracking during impact.
- Visual enhancement: Light sanding/polishing or controlled flame polishing (PETG/ASA) creates a professional look, ideal for inspections or high-visibility locations. Carefully shield functional interfaces.
Collaborate for optimal performance
Designing and printing complex competition-grade components such as optimized FRC radio brackets requires expertise and
