Looking for contacts related to STEM Facilities and Programs

[MattRain]

Hey CD,
The high school that I mentor at, is in the early stages of expansion. I have been asked by the building committee to join as a member, due to my time as a robotics mentor at the school. They have asked me to help plan the interior of the new building that they would like to build. As of currently planned, the 2 story building will include new 14 classrooms, with the majority based on STEM. One of which will be a new robotics lab/workshop large enough to run our current FTC teams, as well as a potential future FRC team.

I am looking for anyone that is willing talk with myself and the committee to what we should plan for.

Thanks,

[ASD20]

If you plan on getting large machinery, make sure the shop is on the ground floor and there is easy access to it through double doors and wide hallways. Or preferably, it has direct access to the outside.

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by ASD20

If you plan on getting large machinery, make sure the shop is on the ground floor and there is easy access to it through double doors and wide hallways. Or preferably, it has direct access to the outside.

Even better would be a roll up door that you can drive up to or into. And make sure you can get a forklift in there if you plan to move machines in.

[gerthworm]

We never seem to have enough storage around our space - having lots of shelves and cabinets where parts can be sorted and clearly labeled will be very useful.

Pull-down extension cords are useful to keep power handy, but not have to worry about extension cords being in the way or outlets being too far.

We use whiteboards extensively for brainstorming, planning, initial design, reminders, etc. Portable, rolling whiteboards have proven very useful in the past. Portable large monitors are also great for showing CAD or software to a larger audience. In fact, it seems like having lots of things on wheels is beneficial to help the space morph to fit the task of the day.

We also split our space in two - half for mechanical and electrical, the other half for business/software/admin. It helps because you only need full safety glasses & other protection in the mechanical and electrical space, which just makes life easier for folks who aren't working directly with sharp objects. There is a clear line on the floor & walls where "If you cross this line, you must have safety glasses"

[Sperkowsky]

I reccomend getting air drops with quick disconnect fittings installed anywhere you can. Having compressed air ready to go is extremely useful for many tasks.

Storage and tables are key. Tables that have heavy duty drawers under them are a good combo.

Don't forget material storage especially if you plan on pursueing Frc. On the wall storage for long material works great along with overhead storage for sheet material. There are of course a million ways to store materials those are just the ways I've found to save the most space.

Also remember power. Many large tools like mills are not happy with the normal power sockets everyone in the US has. Make sure to take into account the power needs of tools.

Have a separate room for clean and dirty. One room can contain the programming and cad computers along with part storage where as the other room houses the tools and materials. Opening up a pc and finding 2" of saw dust is not fun.

Flooring is also important. In workshops your going to want something that's extremely durable and easy to clean. Where as your also going to want a separate carpeted area for practice. That's not a big deal with Ftc but if you go to Frc your going to really enjoy having carpeting that doesn't slide around.

[tjf]

First item of business is access. You really don't want to be hauling robots and powertools up in an elevator every time you need to move it. Try and get a ground-floor room.

Secondly is your power. You'll need to run powertools and large machinery depending, so being aware of what you need going in is important.

Thirdly, storage. You'll have a *lot* of old parts and tools. Storage, especially organized storage, can help a TON with this. Along the same vein, lots of workspace would definitely help any team, that way you're not shoving things off the table and losing them.

Fourthly, having two subspaces is going to be a lifesaver. Your programmers seldom want to hear the whirr of a bandsaw or drill, and likely will need to concentrate. Same goes for business and leaders.

Finally, and most importantly, get a place to hang your safety goggles right off the bat. You really don't want anyone to lose a very valuable eye.

Congrats on the new space, and good luck!

[OccamzRazor]

We currently have a 10,000 sqft facility for just FIRST in NC. We have 3 FRC teams living inside, several FLL, and 3-4 FTC teams that use the space.

There is a news article about our space here: http://queencityrobotics.org/

Send us an email and we can give you some insights on planning your space.

[ebarker]

Here is some concepts that our team produced

http://kellrobotics.org/files/model/...YM_for_web.pdf

Also here is Katy ISD http://kellrobotics.org/files/Katy_I...esentation.pdf

[Jon Stratis]

My team went through this a few years ago - The school was looking at two expansion projects, one of which was a STEM center. They contracted a company to design it, then brought the designs to us. The company came up with 3 large classrooms - we said "There appears to be a communication problem here". We ended up redesigning it for them, and it turned out pretty awesome!

There's one large classroom, big enough for us to have a 1/2 practice field. All of the desks are on wheels, so they can really easily be moved out of the classroom while we practice. The ceiling is as high as we can get it (in our old build space, we've had robots that almost hit 11' ceilings before - I recommend 16' or higher!). The walls have diamond plate on the bottom 18", as we anticipate that's where most of the impacts would happen, and additional plastic sheeting going up another couple of feet to help protect the drywall.

There's a machine shop that was spec'd out for the equipment we either had at the time, or had on our wish list. Large table in the middle of the room, with retractable power drops coming from the ceiling. You'll want to seriously consider if you want centralized air storage/vacuum.

We have an assembly area that has 4 large standing height tables, each with their own retractable power drop. It's got two more tables dedicated to robotics, as well as storage along an entire long wall.

We added in a conference room with a kitchenette - we're there enough that having a microwave and a mini fridge really comes in handy. Plus the separate room is nice for our business team to work in.

And there's a dedicated Lego room - a ton of workbenches for Lego team's, and a central table large enough for a full FLL field.

We have access a few ways - There's a main door into the STEM Center, near the lego room. There's a door straight into the conference room, which then leads into the classroom. There's a rolling door so we can back our trailer inside, and finally a service door we can access from the outside so students don't have to walk through the entire school late at night (in fact, we don't want them in the rest of the school late at night anyways). There's actually a rolling door on the other side of the space as well, to give access to a courtyard the build space cut off access to.

Finally, there are a lot of windows internally. This was designed so a teacher could stand in a single spot to oversee a class of kids spread out between the classroom, assembly area, and shop all at once. It also helps the team feel like a team while they're spread out all over the place!

Here's a brief video tour, before the team moved everything in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIxNP6FuiLM

Let me know if you need any other info!

[sanddrag]

Wow, 14 classrooms! What an opportunity! I wish we could be so fortunate. Although our program is nowhere near the size of 14 classrooms, you may want to come out to visit us if you get the opportunity to do so. We pack quite a punch into a modest amount of space. You're welcome to visit, just send me a private message.

Nonetheless, be sure to post back with updates as your project progresses. I'm very interested in seeing how it pans out for you. We're hoping to make the push for a new facility here as well (someday).

All I can say is, you get one chance to do it right, then you're stuck with it forever. So it's worth spending the time now to get it right. Put in a lot of electrical service, a lot of A/C, and a lot of network ports. That's all I can say in a generic sense.

[MattRain]

Thank you to everyone, a lot of these points were on track with what I have come up with as well. I received a couple PMs, and will be reaching out to them soon. I am so excited for the opportunity.

While all 14 classrooms will not be robotics and FIRST related, a majority of the science classes and math classes will be moved into the new building, along with a few new classes. If anyone has access to plans that they have done with their school, like ebarker has posted, I would be ecstatic to see them. We have been currently running FTC teams out of a converted computer lab, that has false flooring and carpet, which has highly limited what we can do. Cant wait to expand!

[frcguy]

We actually went through this last year.

Oracle, one of the major sponsors of our school and team is building us a brand-new facility on their campus in Redwood Shores, CA. We actually broke ground a few weeks ago.

I was on the student/staff/parent design team for it and was involved the most in the design of our shop, so I know a bit about that. In general, what everyone has said is great. Make sure you have drops for air, power and data above all of the different tables/work-spaces you might have. If you aren't sure if a particular drop will be used, include it anyway. It's going to be a lot harder to go back and add things than just including it as a precaution. The same goes for things like ventilation and fume collection. Even if you don't do welding now, it's going to be really expensive and time consuming to add that later. Another local team had to do that and it was a total nightmare. Wire up large outlets (Single and 3 phase) for big machinery. Like others have said, make sure you have a way to get things in such as double doors or a roll-up door.

The shop at the new school is two floors. The bottom is where the wood shop and metal shop will be. In those rooms is all of the assorted machinery and tools and workbenches. There is an office for our shop teacher and a fairly large materials and project storage room attached. Upstairs is a design studio, with 3D printers, laser cutters, etc. and computers with CAD and design software. There are also lots of large tables for group collaboration.

I hope all that was helpful. PM or post if you have any questions!