[archiver]

Posted by Andy Baker at 05/25/2001 9:16 AM EST


Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Choosing a machine shop (Re: How important is a machine shop
Posted by Ken Leung on 05/24/2001 10:52 PM EST:



: Some have professional shops such as the Delphi teams like 45 and 47, some have their own shops like 237 and 192, and some have really limited access to shops like 419.

By all means, we do not have a professional shop. We have our own shop. Our shop consists of 2 mills, 2 lathes, 2 band saws, 2 drill presses, a small sheet metal break, a small sheet metal cutter, a grinder, and a welding station. Also, we have enough room for an office area, storage, and a full playing field.

We rarely use "professional" skilled trades shop time for our robot. This year, we used about 10 hours of their time for some complex welding.

Our students make 80% of our parts for the robot, and the other 20% is made by adults (engineers, teachers, or parents) in our team's shop, with students assisting... so, no, we don't have a professional shop. We are to the point where many of our students are better fabricators than I am (which isn't saying much).

Coincidentally, we set up this shop in '98... that's when we started having some competition success in FIRST. Having our shop had a lot to do with our success.

Andy B.