What are you using your 3D printer for?

[cadandcookies]

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).