CAD
This is our second year using Computer Aided Design as an integral part of our design process and we now know just how useful it is. This 3D render is used to advertise to sponsors and the general public who may not be as skilled at recognizing technical drawings. We have paper size A2 and A3 Wireframe prints of all angles of the robot that we bring to competitions and showcases. We hope to be able to expand on our CAD skills as the years go on.
As you can see below, there are many components that make up our robot. Many of the components that make up the robot were designed and manufactured by us. For example, the red claw at the center of our robot was a custom made 3D printed part that was manufactured in house. We went through over 3 iterations to finally land on this design. Although we could have built this part using plates and 90°Connectors, we have access to more precise and stronger 3D printers. Another component that we have manufactured in house was our custom side panels. These panels were created on a laser cutter that we were able to access through one of our sponsors. This was our first foray into subtractive manufacturing and we are looking forward to using our newfound skills to create new and stronger custom parts in house.
A Bill Of Materials (BOM) is a excellent way to quickly see what parts make up a complex design. In professional manufacturing, BOMs are used to budget for a project, place large component orders correctly, and for anyone in the company to understand what makes up a section of a product quickly. For us, they provide a calmer and easier building experience as well as reproducibility of our tread bases and sensor modules. At the beginning of the season, we imported all of our components into Fusion 360. When designing a new section or subsection, we can quickly import the CAD files for the components we planned to use. Instead of wasting time redrawing the same few pieces over and over in different locations and lengths, we just import the file of the component we want to work with. This allows us to add fine details to our cad models that we could not have before (think individual nuts and bolts screwed together.) These new systems allow us to perfect our designs on the computer before we start building; Reducing troubleshooting time down the line.
Our Wheel Base
The slide and gantry arm used on the upper half of the robot
Our pickup claw
The intake mechanism
For your viewing pleasure, we have included an online viewer of our CAD models below. After the window loads, you can use the cube in the top right corner to move around the robot.