Quote:
Originally Posted by roystur44
IMHO it doesn't help with the team if you stick to the same old construction methods year in and year out. Have the kids see what is available out in the real world. Try to bring something new to the team every year. There are a lot of sheet metal fabricators, machine shops, tube laser cutters, assembly houses, cable houses, injection molding, water jet cutters, etc that are more than willing to help out. A team just has to find a fab sponsor and ask for some help/supervision constructing their robot.
If you want to teach kids about engineering yes you do start with a drill press and chop saw but in the end you want them to know how to design and build a robot using a 5 axis tube cutting laser using the latest in CAD technology.
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I wouldn't trust anyone to design for a 5-axis anything if they can't make something work with simple tools and simple ideas first.
Designing in sheet metal (or in composites or plastics or for five-axis mills) isn't the silver bullet that will make a team's robots work.
Just a difference of opinion, really, but I think building simple, successful robots is a better path than building pretty, heavy paperweights.