pic: How It's Made: 148 & 217 Robots

[Cory]

Originally Posted by coldfusion1279

Wow, wouldn't we all love to see the BOM with all this machining and powder coating.

Cool process.

Not really. the BOM won't reflect any of those costs, as the services were all donated by a team sponsor.

[henryBsick]

Awesome video, great facility.
Thanks guys.

/jealous

[Jonathan Norris]

That video is pure awesome, great job with the How It's Made feel to it.

I've always been inspired by your designs and try to learn more about sheet metal fabrication every year. Every team should try and build the highest quality robot with what resources they have, and the sheet metal resources you guys have are likely unparalleled. Keep on producing beautifully designed robots it inspires the rest of us.

I'm interested in hearing more about how your teams are structured more around prototyping design ideas and obviously very detailed CAD work, then the machining and building aspects that most teams spend a majority of their time on.

[Brandon Holley]

That seems like an ok way to make a robot. I guess....






Awesome video guys.

[Kris Verdeyen]

Thanks for the video, John and Brandon (and 148). I'm going to have to take you up on that tour offer.

Now to find someone with a CNC brake.

[skimoose]

I wish FIRST could encourage more manufacturers to step up the way IFI has. I would love to see more students designing parts in CAD or being more active in advanced manufacturing processes. Making parts with hand tools is a useful skill, but being adept at modern design / manufacturing techniques are marketable skills.

Waiting for our sheet metal parts to arrive!

[coldfusion1279]

Originally Posted by Cory

Not really. the BOM won't reflect any of those costs, as the services were all donated by a team sponsor.

Maybe I should have said "I". I am interested to see how much getting parts custom made from sheet metal, and then powdercoated, would cost realistically, even without labor.

[sdcantrell56]

Anything that is bent is most likely 5052 aluminum. 6061 does not bend very well and 7075 does not bend at all.

[waialua359]

Now that's what you call a teaser for sure!
How much for a laser cutter? Seriously.

[Chris Fultz]

Awesome video. Awesome process. Awesome that you could share it.

Hmmm, Cyber Blue Road trip to IFI for a tour ...

[James Tonthat]

I've been up to Greenville myself, then came a second time with a small group of students. They all enjoyed it, it's well worth the 5 hour drive from The Woodlands.

[Andy L]

Originally Posted by coldfusion1279

Maybe I should have said "I". I am interested to see how much getting parts custom made from sheet metal, and then powdercoated, would cost realistically, even without labor.

Same

[Dan Richardson]

Originally Posted by coldfusion1279

Maybe I should have said "I". I am interested to see how much getting parts custom made from sheet metal, and then powdercoated, would cost realistically, even without labor.

I think you'd be surprised at how little the total would come in at. The only big initial cost being set up. Considering there is very little time in the process for all those parts ( He mentioned ~ 24 hours ) just factor in an average machine shop time, that cost and material costs.. whamoo you have your answer.

Personal example, we used to have our drive train manufactured by a facility that was not well equipped to do sheet metal. ( Multiple CNC cutting centers no water jets or laser .. ) When we would ask for a quote for accounting / sponsorship letter the cost would often come in at 5000+ for around 10 pieces.

Now that we use a sheet metal facility that quote comes in for around 700 total, and we have 1-2 day turn around rather than a week.

On a side note, I am giddy like a school girl to see this video because of how important understanding sheet metal construction can be for Mechanical Design Engineers. I have been consistently inspired by 148 and 217 year in and year out. There competitiveness on
the field and GP off inspired 1902 to use these manufacturing techniques for many years and I think anyone reading this forum should take note.

[Akash Rastogi]

John- would it be possible for you to put on a presentation in Atlanta this year, or even a powerpoint presentation up here on CD, detailing your design process in Sheetmetal in Solidworks? This question is also directed to others who use sheet metal fabrication such as 217, 228, 1771, 1477, 1902 and any others I don't know of.

I've been learning the features in SW but I don't know what works or what doesn't in my designs when, hypothetically, I would try to get them manufactured at a fabrication site. Are there limitations using sheet metal during fabrication? What are the advantages? (other than speed of fabrication, weight, duplicates)

Great video, great insight into your process. Thanks to those who can help answer some of my questions.

[s_forbes]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

John- would it be possible for you to put on a presentation in Atlanta this year, or even a powerpoint presentation up here on CD, detailing your design process in Sheetmetal in Solidworks? This question is also directed to others who use sheet metal fabrication such as 217, 228, 1771, 1477, 1902 and any others I don't know of.

I've been learning the features in SW but I don't know what works or what doesn't in my designs when, hypothetically, I would try to get them manufactured at a fabrication site. Are there limitations using sheet metal during fabrication? What are the advantages? (other than speed of fabrication, weight, duplicates)

Great video, great insight into your process. Thanks to those who can help answer some of my questions.

I'd also love to hear more about some of the details that need to be considered when dealing with sheet metal design. One of the things I find most perplexing is the tolerances involved with these kind of parts... Some things I've read online mention that large sheet stock (like 4'x8') can vary in thickness as much as .005" (thicker in the middle).

Separately, how tight of tolerances can the machines hold? For example, when bending a c-channel out of 0.125 thick sheet, how much does the outside flange to flange distance vary?

It seems like getting rivet holes to line up would be a nightmare.