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Unread 05-05-2016, 07:26
adciv adciv is offline
One Eyed Man
FRC #0836 (RoboBees)
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Re: Waterjet vs. Manual Build Process?

I've got a few different views on this, mind you I'm from the programming side of the house. Also, waterjet/CNC, consider what's more appropriate. A waterjet is nice but may require significantly more maintenance and upkeep than a CNC. Look at the sustainment costs for each before deciding. I think a waterjet starts at $80k, if you can get one for significantly less please tell us.

1) On the loss of hands on. I've had some debate with one of the other mentors on this who thinks everything should be done by hand. In the real world you will not be cutting everything manually. In fact, you would likely be fired for attempting this. It's not always worth it to build everything by hand or from scratch.

2) You don't have to give up hand cutting entirely. This year about half our robot was hand cut (or could have been, would have to check) and half was waterjet/CNC. Our main frame was box tubing and wood ribs. A few pieces were water jet and bent with a brake. One of our components was right angle aluminum and was hand cut with a hack saw. Determining which is the most appropriate method is another part of engineering (I can build this and it costs X or I can go to home depot and it costs Y).

3) Beware the CAD Trap and Prototype. One thing we've sometimes become trapped by is the design trap of trying to get the robot fully designed and then building it. If we came across an issue, sometimes it would be too late into build season to fix. Hand building can be easier if you don't have as much of a delay for prototyping. Our original drive train this year got stuck on the moat and we did a quick redesign to fix it. This wouldn't have been as easy in years of heavy dependency on CNC/waterjet where we send the components out for manufacture.

On a different note, if you don't do it already I recommend you build a practice robot in addition to the competition robot. If you do, try to build the practice first and use it for prototyping, programming, and learning how to build the competition robot. Your programmers will thank you and the build quality of your competition robot will greatly improve.
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