Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

What would the robotic arms be used for in a highschool robotics room? Or is this a class for the hogh school programming classes?

American high schools have so much more then here in Canada. Im jealous, but at the same time wondering why you need to have all the extras, especially when your government has no money... But I don't know

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

Most public high schools in the US have nothing or almost nothing when it comes to shop facilities, at least on the west coast.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

They are used in our 11 and 12 robotics class. They spend most of there time sword fighting and playing checkers. Unfortunately they are highly proprietary making them a pain to program and we cannot afford to break anything.

We are a public school in Toronto, Canada. The arms were graciously donated to us (there's a rumour that it was in someone's will). We are the main robotics school in the district so we get a fairly large amount of funding but not every robotics program in are district gets adequate funding (cough..1310). We will be running them during a open shop day next year if you want to check them out.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

We get zero funding from public sources and we are a public school. All of our funding has come from extreme efforts by our students, parents, and community. In a big fundraising push last year before worlds, we raised $39k in 7 days. Our goal for this new shop is $200k.

Referring back to another post that Daisy made a couple months ago, we used to be a team that cried about our lack of funding, until we decided to get proactive. There are definitely teams that are handed the money without much effort, but if we can make it happen in a city that is facing major budget problems, anyone can.

But still, we probably won't go with robotic arms. I really am just looking for recommendations for machines, storage, tools, space layout, safety, etc.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

Start by figuring out what you have and are taking with you rather than getting rid of, and how you're going to fit that in with room to access and work around it. Then add in your half-field, and other areas you want to have.



I would HIGHLY suggest getting a "paper scale" model put together. What I mean by that is, you take a piece of paper and turn it into a scale drawing of the room, maybe something on the order of 1" on paper = 1' in real life. Then you make cutouts of your toolboxes, large tools, old robots, and probably a couple of "humans" at the same scale. Arrange the cutouts on the drawing to see how stuff fits in, "lock" the plan when you find one that works, and you're ready to move.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

This is exactly the way to do it. Have scale paper cutouts of your machine's work envelopes (including space for the operator!) too.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

I've attached a picture of Team 20's machine shop, which we share with the school, where most of our machining takes place throughout the season. Missing from the image are a table to the left with 3 small table top belt sanders, 2 manual lathes just to the left of the black door that never see use (they are not well taken care of), and a large band saw just adjacent to where the picture is being taken. Also barely missing from the image to the right is a table with 2 or 3 CNC machines. We use one of the mills occasionally. Between those, what is seen in the picture, and our materials closet, we are able to fit this all in space about the size of a classroom. The ceiling is quite a bit taller than a normal classroom, but the dimensions are rather close.

In the picture we have a 3-axis bridge port mill front and center, a work table with underneath storage to right of it, and a drill press behind it. We have a rather nice manual lathe that we use for most lathe work in the back right corner. In the back left corner we have a welding table and the appropriate exhaust setup.

This is just an example of a shop set up that works for us and can reasonably fit within the space of a classroom. There is also a woodshop in another part of the school that has table saws, more band saws, another drill press, and a break. It's important to think critically about what machines will actually see use. We use our band saw, drill press, manual lathe, belt sanders, and bridge port mill frequently. Less frequently we use our break or CNC mills. We bend aluminum, lexan, and sometimes steel on the break. We have made poor use of the CNC mills in the past (only using them for bumper mounting brackets of all things until last year), but we are starting to change that.

From my experience, I would definitely suggest a nice band saw, drill press, and mill along with 2 small table top belt sanders. Add a lathe, break, and/or CNC mills as your manufacturing requirements and experience expand. It is important to understand machine upkeep to protect investments. Look for good value, but at the same time you often get what you pay for unless you find really good deals.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

Sorry, I didn't mean to diverge the thread. I was recommending the aluminum extrusion machining envelopes that we used to surround the arms. It makes everything look very safe and professional.

Re: Robotics Workspace Floorplan
 

Awesome suggestions Carl!