VEX UNITS OF WORK UNIT 1: TUMBLERUNIT 2: CLAWBOTUNIT 3: MANUFACTURING UNIT 1.1: Autodesk Inventor TUMBLER Build UNIT 2.1: Autodesk Inventor CLAWBOT Build UNIT 3.1 3D Printing Build

Project Overview  An introduction to 3D printing  Designing 3D printing parts  Redesigning the Clawbot  3D printing new Claw components  Assembling & Testing 3D printed components  Open 3D printing design challenge

Manufacturing Introduction For more information about products and competition opportunities go to Whether you are new to the world of VEX Robotics, or a seasoned robotics engineer, the opportunity to design and manufacture your own unique VEX parts offers huge opportunity to be creative. Whilst robotic solutions you develop will not be allowed to compete in the national competition, the process of design and manufacture will develop a highly sought after range of skills. In this project, the world of engineering and manufacture are completely at your finger tips. You are challenged to reimagine the VEX Robotics platform, through a series of short design and make projects. The first stage will focus on structural components made by laser cutting acrylics and sheet woods. The second stage will focus on more complex geometric parts made by 3D printing PLA and ABS filament. The final stage will look at the application of CNC machines to create parts in more resistant materials including sheet and block steels and aluminium.

3D printing Introduction For more information about products and competition opportunities go to 3D printing is a fantastically exciting new technology, considered a genuinely disruptive technology, because it has the potential to completely turn on its head the way in which modern manufacture is operated across the globe. 3D printing allows for one off and small batches of plastic components to be made, creating unique robotics solutions with specialist functions and abilities thanks to not only unique parts, but potentially hollow parts that the process allows for. In the world of VEX Robotics, plastic based components are mass produced by a process called injection moulding; forcing liquid plastic into an enclosed cavity and allowing it to cool to form a solid component. This is an excellent process when making 1000’s of matching components, both in colour and shape, but financially unsuited to the bespoke and specialist making of components in single numbers. Key words: 3D printing, batch, mass production, injection moulding.

LESSON 01

LESSON 1 STARTER Key words: CAD, Library, heat processes, acrylic, MDF, profile, forming. Learning objective: Learn about 3D printing technology, explore the modern application of this disruptive technology, and read around the topic of future 3D printing technology for different sectors. The VEX Clawbot has been modelled completely in Autodesk Inventor, a software package that allows for the design and assembly of 3D parts prior to manufacture. In the motion folder, you will find an entire claw in parts, bearings, gears and other similar components. These parts are ideal for the process of 3D printing. In the structure folder, you will find parts suitable for sheet material, and (for the linked project) the process of laser cutting or plasma cutting. Using these pre-designed components, you are going to learn about 3D printing technology.

Introducing 3D Printing Process: 3D Printing Facts about 3D printing 1. It was developed in the 1980’s 2. It was originally called Rapid Prototyping (RP) 3. It was hoped to be a fast and cost effective process for industry to make parts 4. It was never patented by the person who invented the process in 1980, Dr Kodama from Japan (which was surprising considering he was a patent lawyer at the time) 5. It was subsequently patented by Charles Hull in 1986 who set up the company 3D Systems Corporation which is the largest 3D printing company today 6. In 2012, the first crowd funded printers became available to market using the platform Kickstarter 7. Today, it is unknown, given the pace of how the technology is developing, how many different types of printers and brands exist.

Introducing 3D Printing Process: 3D Printing What is 3D printing? 3D printing is an additive process. This means you are adding material to the part you are making, rather than taking it away (known as subtractive) The material is built up in layers using an extruder, onto a bed, so that it builds up, with each layer bonding to the previous. The process is controlled by computer (CNC) using data from an STL file. When complete, the part is removed from the bed, and is either 1. finished and ready to be used 2. cleaned up to remove support material 3. cleaned up by removing raft material 4. heat treated prior to use In the case of common school printers that use plastic as the material, options 1-3 apply. For metals or other composites, option 4 also applies.

Introducing 3D Printing Process: 3D Printing Different 3D Printing interations 3D Printing, or rapid prototyping, can come in many different forms. Additive machine In this form, material is heated into a softened state and extruded from a nozzle. This can be onto a heated bed, bed coated in adhesive or contact paper, or straight onto a glass or textured metal plate. SLA/DLP machine (Autodesk Ember example right) In this form, a bed is lowered into a volume of liquid polymer, and a laser or focused light cures the material to a hardened state in layers as the bed moves away from the liquid. SLS machine In this form, a powder is used in place of a liquid or a solid polymer, and a laser “sinters” or cures the powder in layers which are added by a sweeper.

Introducing 3D Printing Process: 3D Printing How is 3D printing being used? Task Because the process is continuously evolving and accelerating in its use, it is impossible to say what 3D printing is being used for and not be out of date within days. Therefore, your task is as follows: 1. Find out using research techniques (internet, technology magazine, etc.), what 3D printing has been used to make so far to date. What is the most unusual item? 2. Format your research into a visual arrangement ordered by challenge, what is easy to do with 3D printing through to what is much more difficult? 3. Present your findings to your teacher by submitting your work to them to read and assess.

3D printing using the Up! Mini Your teacher has 3D printed you out some parts from the VEX Clawbot Inventor library. These parts are to the exact scale of VEX parts. Some 3D printers, like the Up! Mini, come with their own software. The job of the software is to slice up the 3D shape into 2D layers that can be printed out by the printer. The software informs the user how much material the job will use, how long the print will take and the estimated finish time of the print out. Why is this useful information to a manufacturer? The software allows the user to arrange components to be printed onto the bed and visualise their layout. Why is this a useful software feature to a manufacturer? Introducing 3D Printing

3D printed VEX parts Investigate the parts Using the collection of 3D printed parts your teacher has produced, study each and try to come up with rules for making your own 3D printed parts i.e. parts need to be… An example might me “Parts need to be small to fit onto the printer bed” Consider: Size Complexity Detail Function (of the part when made) Aesthetics (appearance) Claw sheet metal part 4 inch wheel 60 tooth gear Claw linkage Claw finger Bearing Claw geared linkage

Introducing 3D Printing What rules apply to 3D printed parts? Finish the sentence 3D printed parts are… DETAILED?LAYERED?ATTRACTIVE?FLEXIBLE?

Introducing 3D Printing How do 3D printed parts compare? With a full set of 3D printed parts, and a full set of existing injection moulded VEX parts, you have the opportunity to apply what you know about comparing and contrasting different processes to make the same parts. Task: Compare the injection moulded parts to the 3D printed parts. Compare how they are the same, and contrast into how they are different. Finish by stating which, in your opinion, is the better process for VEX customers, stating why.

LESSON 1 PLENARY As a class, let us consider the following questions? A. How is 3D printing so different from subtractive technology? B. How could 3D printing make a positive impact on the environment? C. Who should be allowed to print out detailed product parts, the customer or the manufacture? D. Do you think there will be a 3D printer in every home in the future?

Summary Today you have:  Learnt about 3D printing technology focused around the Up! Mini 3D printer.  Explored and studied the disruptive potential of 3D printing technology.  Discovered the potential future opportunities for 3D printing beyond design and engineering. Learning objective: Learn about 3D printing technology, explore the modern application of this disruptive technology, and read around the topic of future 3D printing technology for different sectors.