New Robotics Lab design needs your input

[Peter Randall]

Now that we have finally shipped our bot, I need to design a new robotics lab. Our school is building a new Science & Technology Center and Robotics is getting its own dedicated classroom & workshop. We have about 1500 sq ft to work with and need to cover FRC, VEX and Lego in the same space. At this point it is an empty room 30 x 50 with 12 ft ceiling. Having spent the last six weeks living in your lab and/or borrowed workspace, what would you like to have in your dream shop? What works and what doesn't work? How would you divide the space between workshop and class room / robot corral. We need to work with lower school kids in the class room so I think we need to lock the power tools in a separate workshop, but I am open to suggestions based on experience. While we do have a budget, at this point it costs nothing to dream, So assuming that the sky's the limit:

What layout ?
What tools ?
What kind of storage?
What built in systems (air, vacuum, power) ?
Cabinets, shelves, closets?
Floor covering - workshop and classroom
Overhead systems (unistrut, power, lighting)?
Robot corral (FIRST standard playing surface surrounded by sidewalls)

Thanks for your input

[nparikh]

Number one concept for me would be organization. Separate cabinets for mechanical, electrical, everything. Stock up on robot parts--Victors, Spikes, anything necessary. Get good tools and lots of zip ties.

Computers--get CAD and Inventor on them to help with robot design

I'd love to have a CNC, PlasmaCAM or WaterJet to do some cutting.

[David]

3 drill presses or cnc machines. and a complete metal shop.

[chris31]

I dont have much input as we just pack our stuff in my basement and part of a biology room but its SOOOO cool you get your own shop and room and get to design it and all.

[Dominicano0519]

depends if you are as lucky as we are and your school has a machine and woodshop; i would suggest making a scale playing field 27' x 28' with the driver stations and leave the rest for Vex and FLL


if not than i would probably suggest to leave an area for Vex/FLL
and create a separate room for machines( a lathe, CNC, Bandsaw, and Vert. Milling machine)

[Pavan Dave]

What layout ? Carpet area with mock field space, (half of your lay out), 1/3 of it for building, 1/3 for Machines, 1/3 of remaining for a MOCK Pit so your team gets idea of working at regionals.
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What tools ? A Lathe, Mill, CNC, Drill Press, Ban saw, Grinder, Dremel, Drills, et cetra.
What kind of storage? Cabinets, Shelves, Tables with shelves underneath
What built in systems (air, vacuum, power) ? Air and Power. If you
Cabinets, shelves, closets? Many Cabinets....One for EACH sub system or group on your robot and a huge cabinet for each to put their stuff away at night possibly.
Floor covering - workshop and classroom Cement is preferable IMO because you can always lay carpet for field, and if you spill something or when its time to clean, it is easier on concrete.
Overhead systems (unistrut, power, lighting)? WHITE LIGHTS! Make sure you have white lights.


Also see if you can get a room by the wall of the building so that you can install a retractable wall/gate so you can ship your bot and move it out of the building easier.

Pavan.

[Not2B]

Here's a few ideas from past years...

- Lots of storage and organization, with labels
- Tables in the middle of the room to allow access to all sides
- Non-slip anti-fatigue mats near the big machine tools
- Dry erase boards all over the place
- Places to hang paper everywhere else
- I always like having the safety glass area, and the non-safety glass area.
- Computers on carts to move them around - with wireless if possible
- Keep your 3 biggest use tools far enough apart so you don't bump into each other while working, but keep the path between them clear so you arn't dodging stuff while walking between them.

I'm sure you'll get lots of tool advice. I'll just put my plug in for a nice lathe. Of course, I'm in the lathe-is-more-useful-than-a-mill camp, so take that with a grain of salt.

Me and another mentor helped our team's teacher come up with a list of stuff for a robotics lab for a bond issue for a tech center. It didn't pass, but it was alot of fun developing the list. Good luck!!

[MrForbes]

The amount of space for equipment vs. classroom probably depends on how much equipment you can afford, and what kind of technologies you will be working with. If you are concentrating on design for CNC machines, then you'll need plenty of room for the machines and computers. If you are concentrating more on design that uses manual machining operations, then you might get by with 20 x 30 for the shop area, roughly 1/2 to 2/3 for machines and 1/3 to 1/2 for workbench/storage. A shop gets small in a hurry when you start filling it up with machines! A rollup garage type door would be really nice, both for getting machines in and crates out.

Put lots of electrical outlets in the shop, there never seem to be enough. Be sure to run 220 or possibly 3 phase to the equipment area.

Compressed air may or may not be a good idea. Think about what your machines need, if you will not be using equipment that needs it, then it might be a safer shop without compressed air.

I also like the safety/non-safety glasses area, being able to take a break in the classroom every now and then is nice.

I don't think you'll have enough room for a dedicated mock pit area, or robot corral, but you could design the classroom area as a multi-purpose room, perhaps get tables and chairs that fold up compactly, and some type of moveable divider system to give you temporary corral.

[Andrew Blair]

If this room needs to function for both FRC, FVC, and FLL, I would suggest that you allot space for all your machines, get some great organizational shelves facing an entire wall away from the machines, and basically shift the entire room from FRC to FLL to FVC depending on what time of year it is. During the fall, you can leave the lego tables out, and a few general tables will do. During Build, move everything FLL onto your shelves, and haul out at least the essential FRC stuff.


FLL kids won't mess with your machines, as long as you have power shut offs and put away sharp stuff like end mills.

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by Andrew Blair

If this room needs to function for both FRC, FVC, and FLL, I would suggest that you allot space for all your machines, get some great organizational shelves facing an entire wall away from the machines, and basically shift the entire room from FRC to FLL to FVC depending on what time of year it is.

That's a really good idea, having a wall permanently dividing the room into two rooms does waste some space, and limits what you can do.

[Gabe]

A space heater is a very welcome addition early in the morning.
A shop vac (an organized shop is a more productive shop).
One (at the very least) desktop computer dedicated to only to robotics.
Ask your school to provide a trash can just for the room.
Machinist's vise, decent quality (a vise will define the room as robotics lab)

[Andrew Blair]

Originally Posted by squirrel

That's a really good idea, having a wall permanently dividing the room into two rooms does waste some space, and limits what you can do.

That's more or less what we do. We have a bit more freedom to spread outside of the "robotics room", and our machines are in another lab, but we pretty much let the FLL kids have the room during the fall. We really don't do much in there during that time, and they don't need much space. You are right- avoid dividing the room at all costs- wall create corners, and corners waste space.

[seanl]

you should get a built in air compressor. we have one with a 50 foot hose and it and it is sooooooo useful, we use it mostly for riveting and most importantly blowing stuff!

[eshteyn]

shop tool basics:

1. band saw
2. drill press
3. lathe
4. mill
5. air system
6. battery charging station

in reality that is all you need to do your work int he shop, if you would like you can get the automated version of all those tools. One more suggestion, put rubber mats around the tools, because that cutting oil does get very slippery when on the floor, trust me!

[MrForbes]

Originally Posted by eshteyn

in reality that is all you need to do your work int he shop,

Listing some tools and saying that's all you need is probably a bit too general...we have access to a sheet metal shear and brake, and a turret punch, and used them extensively in our build. Of course, our robot was designed around the equipment available! so it uses lots of sheet metal and polycarbonate.

The point is that you can build a robot many different ways, and which equipment you decide to buy will influence how you build your robot (and vice-versa). If a major emphasis of the classroom work is on computer aided design, then you'd want more computer controlled equipment; if the emphasis is more on basic mechanical design principles, then you can get by with mostly manual equipment. If you will get into welding, then having welding stuff is nice. You could make the robots mostly of wood, using wood shop equipment.