Hi everyone! I’m a mentor for FRC Team 8214 Cyber Unicorn from China. Our robotics base is about to undergo a major renovation, and we want to make sure the new space is designed efficiently. The base serves as a robotics learning and training center for students aged 12-18. We’re expanding by renting the neighboring space, increasing the total area from 300 sqm to an additional 80 sqm. To make the most out of this opportunity, we’d love to gather suggestions and ideas from the global FRC community!
Here are some requirements that we currently have:
Machining area: Needs to be isolated with proper ventilation.
Color scheme: Our team color is purple, and we’d like to incorporate that into the design.
Full-size practice field: We need space for a full-size FRC practice field (1649 x 810.26 cm) and enough room for the Driver Station.
Entry points: The base has front and rear doors, so we need a good flow of movement through the space.
Mezzanine: The new area includes a mezzanine, and we want to make sure we make the best use of it.
Our goal is to create a space that not only meets our robotics training needs but also serves as a technology education hub. We’d love to hear your thoughts on layout, equipment choices, and any other advice you have. What does your ideal robotics lab look like? Thanks in advance for all your help!
Here is some picture that show how our lab look like right now
Wow! It’s great you get so much space. Some ideas I’d have.
Machining area: If there are any windows looking in, make sure they’re not glass (polycarb may be a good choice). If they shatter from material that comes off the mill (say, a broken bit) they could be very dangerous.
Color Scheme: Wherever the main entrance is, if there is an accent wall or central meeting place, consider putting a full wall-sized version of your team logo with the colors.
No comments on this, it’s a pretty well solved issue.
I think I’d need a better idea of the top down layout of the space to be able to think of this, but if that were provided I could possibly sketch something out.
I would mainly use the Mezzanine level as a breakroom with snacks, drinks, etc, and whiteboards for brainstorming and working on prototyping and such. We struggle with our snacks also being in the CAD room, and our CAD students (myself included) get distracted when everyone comes in to eat things.
If you have more space left after doing all of that, I would include a classroom like space for kickoff and planning purposes, meeting for students, and a place for software students to work on coding the robot. Near this, I’d have a place for CAD students to work as well. These should be well connected soi they can talk together about how the robot is coming.
Lastly, a big consideration is storage. The space you occupy right now has a lot of things strewn about (and I would be a hypocrite saying our space didn’t look the same for most of the season) but it would be a good idea to have a place for metal stock to be stored, electrical components, mechanical components, and more things to be stored.
Let me know if you have any questions about what I’ve said
Thank you for the suggestion!!! Actually we are breaking the wall now. After we have the entire space connect with each other we re measure the size so I can share in the comment. Thanks for so many advise!
If you get some measurements of the space and could make a rough floor plan I think it would help a lot of people figure out what you’re working with here.
In general based on the tools I can see I’d recommend getting a laser cutter; if used well along with plywood, it can really streamline your early season prototyping workflow.
Some things to consider that weren’t mentioned in the OP:
Make sure there are double wide (or wider) doorways for moving large equipment thru.
Consider power drop locations. For open floor areas, I personally prefer ceiling-mounted retractable cord reel drops to floor drops, since floor drops end up present tripping hazards and often end up with students kicking/breaking power cords over time.
Consider network drop and computer workstation locations. Think about what machines may need a networked computer near them.
Ensure power outlets have appropriately sized breakers for designated equipment (and potential for future expansion as necessary)
Kitchen Area - depending on your meeting hours and how food is handled, having a kitchenette can provide value. Or even just a fridge and microwave
Storage Area(s) - Consider storage for raw materials, tools, old robots, and personal belongings and allocate appropriate space and shelving/furniture for each.
Meeting/discussion area - How and where do you hold team-wide discussions? Do you need any whiteboards? Projectors? Display screens? Is seating required?
Coming from a team that works out of a three car garage, I would recommend having a dedicated area for breaks and hanging out. When your productive area is the same as your unproductive area, it can be hard to shift back into productive mode after getting distracted. That might also help you keep track of who on the team is actually being helpful at any given workshop and who hasn’t taken a break in way too long. If food is kept in one area, that would also help with ants and general safety.
One other thing I would recommend is very strong WiFi with extenders all around the area. Depending on what softwares you use, you might have three subteams (design, business, and programming) all using the internet at once. Unless you want subteams accusing each other of hogging the WiFi by having too many tabs open, invest in a good router.
Still cheaper than most of the toys used by the mechanical team. Or maybe we should send them back to hack saws and hand drills
At the end of the day, all of the above would increase students’ productivity, communication, and workflow. There’s a reason the top tech companies serve their employees breakfast, lunch, and dinner and have exercise rooms and nap chambers.
