End of Year Purchases

[Pavan Dave]

Im electrical. But I would say, a good multimeter and some potentiometers... those are very commonly used on my team and i saw many of them on other robots too so just my 2 cents

Pavan

[chrisinmd]

Originally Posted by GB330033

chrisinmd: How much skill goes into using a mill/lathe? From what I understand, you really have to know what you're doing. Without any engineering mentors, I doubt that the team members would be able to utilize a mill/lathe the way other teams can. However, if it's not too tough to learn, we might have to look into buying one. Any suggestions on where to get one?

The mill and lathe are very powerful tools that can be used to do lots of things. You do have to know what you're doing, but some internet research or a good book on metalworking should cover the basics of its capabilities, setting up, operation, accessories, etc. It definitely helps to have someone with prior experience to stand over your shoulder, in my team's case, it was my friend who has a mill at home. Is there any machine shops around? They might be willing to send someone over to get you started. I'm pretty sure we got our mill/lathe from Harbor Freight, decent price, average quality, but all the accessories (mill bits, mill clamp, chucks, cutters, etc.) were donated by a machine shop, and they make all the difference in our work. Hopefully someone else will jump in here with specific reccomendations on where to buy, etc.)

Best of luck,
-Chris

[Simon Strauss]

Originally Posted by chrisinmd

the accessories (mill bits, mill clamp, chucks, cutters, etc.) were donated by a machine shop, and they make all the difference in our work. Hopefully someone else will jump in here with specific reccomendations on where to buy, etc.)

Best of luck,
-Chris

Dude, all the cool kids make their own Lathe bits, thats most of the fun and it gives you so many more options in what you can make on your lathe when you have custom cutters.

[Matt Krass]

Originally Posted by GB330033

SNIP!
Donut: No, this does not have to be used to purchase tools. The two accounts are dedicated to "Building Supplies" and "Computer Supplies." I suppose we could go for sensors, but in the three years that the team has been competing, our first time to use a sensor was in the elimination rounds this year, and that didn't turn out well...
SNIP!

I snipped because I'm only addressing that section of the reply.

If your sensor experiences didn't go well, that's all the more reason to do this! Once you figure out most sensors, they're pretty straightforward and you can find a myriad of uses for a good sensor grouping, get some high resolution stuff, stockpile it too, nothings worse than having a sensor-dependent function that doesn't have a spare sensor when the first one goes bad

Buy scrap material, lots of it, of all kinds to have around, no such thing as too much. Having plenty of stuff to be able to build simple things quickly is great for teaching with. What about welding equipment?

Ok, so perhaps I addressed more than the sensor thing, what can I say?

Extra stuff is great for teaching members things though, you don't have to worry about waste as much, so the inevitable mistakes you make as you go aren't a problem, and you learn that much more.

[AndyB]

If you guys do either of the Autodesk Awards, more RAM for the computers is always a good thing.

[Gabe]

TOOL CHEST!!! If you are buying tools, you have to organize them, as well as leaving room to expand your collection of tools (it will happen).
WELDER? Think about a Tig or Mig welder for welding aluminum, especially for making a tubular robot frame.
Also get an assortment of alloy steel bolts;1/4-20, 10-32, 8-32, 6-32, 4-40. Varying lengths from 1" to 3/8", by eights of an inch.

[team222badbrad]

It sounds like your are going to need a good toolchest to store all the tools.

I would go for a big one with many smaller drawers and a few big ones for items such as powertools.

Its always handy to have a toolbox that you can move easily roll from room to room.