Team 2855 may be getting a new shop :D. Our school is doing a major remodel starting this summer, and they are currently doing planning (who gets more space, how much space they get, etc.). We want to present a few examples of effective and well liked shops from other teams. We present to them on Tuesday, April 26th.
So, post pics, ideas, recommendations, etc. We mainly want to present them the size of the shop and what we would do with it, so we don’t need to think about specific tools and machines quite yet. Just general ideas and how much space that would take. And not just for a shop, other parts of robotics (marketing, etc.) probably need space too, so recommend how much space for them too.
We are currently reorganizing our shop’s layout. One thing that I have to say is extremely helpful is to have plenty of work space. The more counters or tables you could in there, the more space you have to keep things and to work on things.
Also, having good ventilation systems and a fume hood is nice when staining or spray painting.
Good luck guys!! I hope you guys get a fantastic looking shop!
As a safety captain, I can only urge you to incorporate safety. If you’re remodeling, you should be able to have a “safety zone.” Eye wash, area for a LARGE first aid kit, battery spill kit, etc.
Some thoughts from a guy who’s had varying amounts of space before:
If you can get a 30’x30’ unobstructed space set aside, that’s a half-field. (Sure, a full field is better–but how many of us can’t even get a half?)
Lay out the walking paths, and get them marked so it is crystal clear that Thou Shalt Not Leave Crap In The Walking Path.
Find room for old robots. Leave them together, or at least taxidermy them (take out electronics and such) so they can be displayed. This is highly underrated by a lot of teams.
If you can make your shop space a lot like your pit space, it will save you time and frustration at events. (We store parts in a lot of shoebox-sized clear plastic bins that fit inside KoP totes. When it’s competition time, they go off the shelf, into the totes, then out onto the shelf in the pit.)
Like others have said, more space is always better.
Most teams in my area share space with the school wood shop. They have to clean up after each build day. Having a large storage area makes putting things away go much faster.
My team has a dedicated space, but our shop and build room are very small. We put wheels and computers on a table, so the programmers can work in the hallway and avoid the noise of the build room. We have also put many of our storage racks on wheels, so old robots and rarely used items are pushed into the hallway during each build day.
This year we had to drag our barriers out of the build room before we could start working.
My suggestion is to have a computer room for CAD, programming, marketing and meetings and another room for construction and assembly. If your machine tools are in the same room as where the robot is assembled, you should have a safety barrier between so people can move about with out bumping into someone using a chop saw or other equipment. Even better, have some sound proofing material or a glass wall, to cut down on noise in the assembly area.
Once you decide on what large tools are needed, the number and size of assembly tables + storage racks, draw up a floor plan with walk ways. I like Microsoft Visio for this, but other 2-D graphic tools will work.
One word of advice is that when you’ve been doing this for a number of years, 3,000 square feet is not anywhere near enough. Think bigger than that. You know it’s not enough when you start setting things on chairs, because you’ve ran out of space on tables, carts, and even the floor.
We would like to show a few pictures of other shops as an example Tuesday, so we want your opinion on which 3 or 4 pictures from this thread we should use. Feel free to add your own pictures into your suggestion.
Yes, you are correct. They are starting the major part of the remodel in 2017 (they probably will do a few small projects this summer). My mistake.
Also, I have attached a rough drawing of a shop layout. Feel free to make changes, suggest dimensions, etc. We would like to have your thoughts on what the room size ratios should be (such as marketing area vs. machining area, storage vs. machining, machining vs. assembly/planning, etc.).
