Machines for an Ideal Robotics Workshop?

[mom1155]

If there is already a post or FIRST white paper on this subject, please send me the link.

What machines/equipment would teams recommend for an ideal robotics workshop?

[ttldomination]

Uhm, idk if there's another post, but I have a couple suggestions.

1. Saw, you need a power saw that you can cut through metal.

2. Drill, use a stationary table drill to drill holes into your metal and other things.

3. Sander, many robot parts need to be sanded down and it's just easier to have a power sander around.

Uh, that's really it for POWER tools. We have hand taps and vice grips for hack saws also, but that's not power.

[sanddrag]

You might check out these threads:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49155
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43379

I recall there being at least one more. Can't find it at the moment.

[EricH]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=658438#post658438
(Yes, it's a joke.)

What kind of budget/space do you have for tools? You have the large machines (mills and lathes and similar items) that are easily a few thousand dollars (with the tools that allow them to cut metal) and take up a lot of space, the medium machines (drill presses, sanders, grinders, bandsaws) that are slightly cheaper and take up less space, or even fit on a table, and the hand machines (power drills, jigsaws, chopsaws, and hand tools) that you can pick up for a couple hundred or less at your local hardware store.

There are a lot of options out there; you have to know what you can afford and store.

[AdamHeard]

What is your budget? I'm not sure if you have $1k or $500k.

The answers will vary substantially based on that.

[Lowfategg]

If you have the money a lathe, milling machine, and a welder are nice things to have. Stay away from cheap clones when buying these.

[mom1155]

What would you put in an ideal dream robotics workshop, if money was not a constraint and you could dream BIG?

[Rich Kressly]

What would you put in an ideal dream robotics workshop, if money was not a constraint and you could dream BIG?
Dave Lavery, Red Whittaker, Colin Angle, Andy Baker, Paul Copioli, JVN, Karthik, and Kevin Watson

[Lowfategg]

Dave Lavery, Red Whittaker, Colin Angle, Andy Baker, Paul Copioli, JVN, Karthik, and Kevin Watson

Can you give me the Mcmaster-carr catalog number for those? ;)

[EricH]

What would you put in an ideal dream robotics workshop, if money was not a constraint and you could dream BIG?CNC mill and CNC lathe, with people who know how to use them.
Good drill press, for smaller jobs.
Some form of grinder, maybe 1 surface grinder and 1 pedestal/bench grinder.
Welder that can weld aluminum.
Rich's list of people, and Rich.
Robot storage. Awards case.
Material rack.
Toolbox that stays organized.
A practice field. Preferably as close as possible to the FIRST official ones.

That's probably about $50,000 worth of parts and materials (people costs not included).

[Blue_Mist]

Actually, with regards to the Toolbox that stays organized, we've found that freshmen works fairly well, and you get to combine cheap labor with the excuse "but we're letting the freshmen help!"

In all seriousness, removable (we use magnetic) labels work quite well.

To add to the list, just three things:
- A computer (laptop?) with programing compiler and Internet.
- Multimeter
- Accurate scale for robot (among other things) at least to 150 lb. or so

[AustinSchuh]

Multimeter

Just a Multimeter? I'd go for a nice digital Scope as well. When you start doing much beyond basic circuits, they are amazingly useful.

[sanddrag]

An engineering college student who was in FIRST in high school.

I think good work tables/areas and good lighting is important in a shop. Also, good clamps and vises.

A waterjet can also be quite handy, but very costly.

[AdamHeard]

A tenacious engineering college student who was in FIRST in high school.

Dave, you left out a word.

[vivek16]

mill, lathe, bandsaw, drill press, arbor press

I agree, waterjets are quite handy.

-Vivek

[Andrew Schreiber]

An engineering college student who was in FIRST in high school.

I think good work tables/areas and good lighting is important in a shop. Also, good clamps and vises.

A waterjet can also be quite handy, but very costly.

397 has several engineering college students who were in FIRST :D Problem is, most of us are CS/CE/EE we only have two ME students, one of whom is graduating.

The tables thing is a good point, I know we lack good tables and chairs. As a result we tend to work on the ground a lot. This means that we aren't working at a good level which leads to all sorts of bad things.

Waterjets are nice, but they make a mess, Id rather outsource this.

Optimal shop: (in order of importance)

Students who are passionate
Supportive Parents and Mentors
Safe Environment (ie not having to worry about theft)
Access any time
Adequate work space (tables/chairs etc)
Hand tools
Arbor Presses (We use the ones we have a lot)
Mill (CnC and Manual)
Lathe (CnC and Manual)
Computer Lab with Solidworks/Unigraphics
High Ceilings
Enough room for a full practice field
Full practice field
Material's to build a second robot.
Wireless Internet that isn't so locked down we can't do research
Oscilloscopes
High speed video equipment
Production Quality Recording Studio (for Promo Videos)


That was the serious part, now, Id like to be located somewhere I could gain access to the AndyMark inventory anytime. I wouldn't want JVN or Karthik or Baker, competing against them is more fun.