Innovation in Puerto Rican Robotics
General description of the project
Innovation in Puerto Rican Robotics depicts how a group of students from various branches of engineering joined forces to design and elaborate two innovative competitive robots through the main use of original and fully custom 3D printed components for the VEX Robotics Championship. From a drawing board, calculations and simulations, all the way to a not only functional but efficient design, this project has its foundation in teamwork, resilience and creativity, and is presented as an opportunity to inspire future engineers to keep growing in their fields, no matter how hard it can get.
Technologies
Both robots were roughly made out of 60% 3D printed components. The design were first made by hand, then built in Inventors and AutoCAD. Simulations were done with using Ansys and printed using different filaments such as TPU, ABS and PLA depending on the mechanism and their functionality.
Explain project results
After completing both robots we participated in the VEX National Championship and brought home the Judges Award which is given to the team with an outstanding demonstration of teamwork skills, performance in the competition and a great interview. Additionally, this experience rewarded us with knowledge that we vow to share with students of all ages through our visits to schools and our participation in open houses in our university. We consider education the foundation of our project and we wish to continue inspiring and leaving a mark on today’s generations.
Why it should be considered best practice?
Through the development process of our project we discovered that innovation doesn’t always lie upon on a more complex and intricate design. Sometimes it can be a simple yet effective approach to an existing solution. This is the beauty of engineering, we get to develop a completely different perspective that can be applied to everyday life.
Highlights of your proposed presentation
The use of 3D printing as an innovative and creative approach to the robotics industry, plus the complete process, which includes trial and error, of transforming a design into reality.
The Evaluation Committee will evaluate submitted proposals based on the following criteria. Each area will be rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (1= non-satisfactory; 5 =outstanding), for a maximum of 45 points.