A small selection of what 2220 used 3D printing for last year:
- Small spacers for our electronics panel
- Mounting blocks for our polycarb side shields
- Gearbox covers
- Camera/IR sensor hybrid mount
- The all important Scorpio name plate
- Prototype of the Stratasys 3D Printing Award trophy given at the MN FTC State Championship
- All sorts of minor electrical stuff
Here's some of what Eagan Robotics FTC teams used 3D printers for last year (in case anyone's interested):
- Hook to hang on the bar
- Small "flicker" arm for scoring the autonomous block
- A variety of electrical isolation mounting components
- Mounting for the Samantha module outside of the base robot frame
- Battery holder
Overall, they were extremely useful. Many parts we developed on the printers went through many iterations in a way that wouldn't have been possible if we were machining them. The finished products (printed in Makerbot PLA) were durable enough that there wasn't a single failure in competition (though we did destroy the original camera/IR mount in testing).