Quote:
Originally Posted by Anupam Goli
exactly. I'm excited about a free 3d printer as much as the next guy, but if I look back on it, there was very little, if anything, we could've used a 3d printer for on our robot last year. It will definitely be useful for small profile parts, but I may be more inclined to get a couple of batteries and some pneumatics equipment over a lottery ticket for a 3d printer (and while we do get credits back, all of the items we want could be gone by then).
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I see your point, and materials is typically the inhibiting factor with the 3-D printing. Although I have had a different expereince with the technology. I have been a part of team 3824 since it's creation and we have had the privilege of utilizing 3-D printing for 3, coming on 4 years now. We have partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT Battelle to open up a government facility, the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, to ourselves and 9 other area teams. With this partnership all fo the teams involved have had extensive exposure to additive manufacturing. Our team had the first fully printed robot 2 years ago and last year had a printed robot that incorporated carbon fiber.
That being so we have used 3-D printing to a large extent and use it in many practical ways such as: Brackets for pulleys and tensioners and housing/ mounting brackets for electronics (lights, cameras, battery boxes,sensors, etc.) We also have used 3-D printing in higher stress areas.
The main thing to remember is that with 3-D printing you can almost make anything you can design and test it within the day.