UAWC3 Lab (Page 17)

Hello everyone, Much is happening in the 3D Lab, even with winter break and the holidays soon approaching.  A particularly interesting project involves students building robots to climb steps.  While a seemingly simple task among us humans, it poses a large challenge to our student engineers! The robots were built from LEGO Mindstorms parts which involves bricks, motors, sensors, and a large CPU brick that serves as the robot’s brain. The most successful robot of the bunch This clever robot “took the high road” and descends instead of climbs Who needs steps when you can use a ramp? Another clever design The step climbing competitionRead More →

Hello everyone, If you frequent the A-Wing, you may notice robots scurring along the corridors.  Tomorrow is the big day for students to test their latest robots, notably those that will attempt to climb/descend stairs.  Their ideas and designs are amazing, which is necessary for this challenging task.  We’ll report the outcome of this event in next week’s blog. The recent engineering project involved robots tossing 3D printed cubes a calculated distance.  The cubes were designed in CAD to have shapes buried inside to vary its weight.  The landing pad was coated in Play-Doh to indicate exactly where the cubes landed. Team robots exhibited wildlyRead More →

The 3D Lab is involved with exciting projects over the past several months.  Engineering students can truly make their ideas and dreams possible with 3D printing, laser cutting, and other fabrication methods available in the lab.  I frequently discover something new and interesting being made. We were honored to be visited by the University of Akron Zips Baja Team.  This student- led team is challenged to design and fabricate an off-roading vehicle powered by a 10hp Briggs and Stratton engine. Competition entails static events such as cost report and face-to-face design evaluation judged by professional mechanical engineers, along with dynamic events such as acceleration, maneuverability,Read More →

Hello everyone, Things are humming along smoothly in the 3D Lab this week.  All of our printers are (thankfully) in working order, providing high availability to students, community members, and engineering classes that need them.  Our first 3D printer (a Makerbot Replicator 2X provided by the Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust) was recently repaired at Makerbot headquarters.  After eight hours of labor and lots of worn, replaced parts, we have a working printer again.  Makerbot’s excellent service plan allows these repairs to be provided at no-cost, a worthwhile yearly investment. We also have the portable 3D printer working better.  In the past, this printer (anRead More →

Hello everyone, With the 3D Lab soon entering its second year of existence, this polytechnic initiative and service to the public shows no sign of slowing down.  It is exciting to see designs become reality for our engineering students, community members inventing useful things that you just can’t find in stores, and mentors visiting the lab to provide teaching, advice, encouragement to our students. Wayne College is grateful to the many donors who make this lab a success, notably the Romich Foundation, Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust – PNC Bank, Trustee, Wayne County Community Foundation, Orrville Area Boys and Girls Club, P. Graham Dunn, andRead More →

Hello everyone, With the semester finishing its ninth week of classes, the 3D Lab is as busy as ever.  Our two newest printers (Lulzbot Taz 5 printers provided by the Wayne County Community Foundation) have proven to be workhorses, running flawlessly practically all day, every day.  Each day brings new activities with student assignments, community projects, club involvement, mentoring, and more. We are also thankful for our older printers (two Makerbot and one Affinia brand printers provided by the Romich Foundation and Laura B. Frick Charitable Trust).  Makerbot (based in Brooklyn, New York) is currently the most established consumer 3D printing company.  They offer serviceRead More →

Hello everyone, Sorry for the missing blog entry last week, as yours truly was on vacation and needed a break!  Now back to the job and refreshed, it’s time to dig into the latest exciting things happening in the 3D Lab at The University of Akron Wayne College. With engineering classes in full-swing, the 3D printed weighted cubes worked well for the LEGO Mindstorms robots that tossed them.  Now students are building robots to carry and drag heavy loads.  3D printers are currently creating student designed sleds that their robots will pull.  More about this activity in the next blog. As mentioned last week, theRead More →

Hello everyone, It’s amazing how far we have come since the 3D Lab’s opening in January 2014.  Looking back, we’ve collaborated with 18 community organizations, a dozen businesses, and another dozen schools.  We’ve made over 20 visits to these locations to demonstrate 3D printing, using the portable 3D printer provided by the Romich Foundation.  Our impact to the community is substantial, a testament of the need for polytechnic skills to be introduced to all generations. A case in-point, an employee of Orrville City Schools brought his son and friend to the 3D Lab for a laser cutting and engraving project.  They wanted to construction aRead More →

Hello everyone, The fifth week of the semester draws to a close.  Engineering students built robots for a ball tossing competition, so the lab was full of moving parts and whirring motors.  Their next assigning is to build robots that will seek and capture colored objects in a defined area.  But here in the 3D Lab, that is only half of the story.  Students of various disciplines print pre-designed objects from Thingiverse, others learn how to use the laser engraver to create beautiful gifts, and community members spend time interacting with students and inventing things in CAD.  It is wonderful to see the different activitiesRead More →

Hello everyone, As to be expected at this point in the semester, the 3D Lab is a bustling place.  Engineering students are engrossed in their latest class assignments, flight club members build and test planes, community members design and print inventions, students finish homework, and others meet and socialize.  The lab has so much energy this time of year; it is exciting to watch the interactions and fun going on there. The two new 3D printers arrived early last week and are installed.  They could not have come at a better time as our oldest 3D printer has broken-down, needing a replacement motherboard.  Students areRead More →