Week 4: Angular Momentum

Time passes so quickly...

We officially approved 90% of the robot CAD, and can start manufacturing parts! Wahoo!

2022-02-05

With the tools at our disposal, we are capable of machining most of our metal and plastic components in-house, which allows the students to learn not only how to design, but how to produce pieces. This can also lead to better design, as students learn what the machines like to do, and can try to design with that in mind.

This year, we are behind (which is normal, really), but we have gotten some additional support from local companies, including some where our mentors work at their day jobs. A plant down in Renton produces commercial springs was able to help cut some of our tubes (though, ended up not), a medical supply company is able to help manufacture some of our smaller connecting blocks, and a local software company in Redmond that owns a few waterjets (because why not!) will handle machining some of our thicker material and larger sheet metal pieces.

In our shop, we have two vertical mills, used to create parts with very specific lengths, and produce patterns of exactly measured holes for mounting and lightening. We started getting to work using both of them, and one of them broke. At the school, not every piece of equipment gets it's annual maintenance. (sad) Two days and several grease cans later, we got it back up and running.

Way back when, in November, I brought up a thought to the team - shipping and logistics were nightmare-ish back then, and might continue to be so during the build season. So we gathered a list of common material stock we expected to use during the season, and it all arrived before the season! Hooray us! Two weeks ago, we changed some of the core pieces in the robots frame from 2"x1", to 2"x2" tubes. We didn't pre-order any 2"x2" tubes. We found 1 seller of 2"x2" tubes in Indiana. The longest length they sold was 30". Our longest piece was 29.25". WHEW. Then Indiana got hammered with snow. We still don't have 2"x2" tubes. 

Supposed to ship this Thursday.

Onward to pictures!

We make use of 3D printing for some of the 'uncommon' mounts, or creating rigid mounts for sensors and similar.

Our electrical team got to work on the chassis assembled the week previous. Clear, labeled wiring is easy to diagnose if we run into any issues in testing or at a competition!

Tubes! We have lots of 1"x1" tubes and 2"x1" tubes. Again, our mentors have been constantly communicating that clear, well-labeled parts are easier to work with, and prevent issues during the manufacturing and assembly process.

Our team colors might be Red and Black, but the "theme" behind this year game is transportation, so we modeled a set of practice bumpers using a specific car company's colors and logo. (I honestly had no idea they were doing this - but I think this looks great.)

-B