What you'll learn

Prototyping inventions that do not yet exist with a focus on robotics

Taking a product concept from your head to development

Designing robots and robotic systems

how to scratch build a device, robot or product

Requirements

You will need to be well versed in electronics, digital electronics, arduino and robotic drives such as stepper motors or servos.

Description

New for October 2024This module will fuse together everything you learned in the first three courses in the Robotics: Learn by building series. You will learn the fine art of prototyping, which is construction of original machinery from scratch. You'll then use it all to build your first robot, a 3D printer. 3D printers really are robots, and with a 3D printer you can then literally print custom designed parts for your robot designs. The 3D printer design we will focus on will also double as a 3D scanner. You will learn various 3D scanning and modeling techniques such as photogrammetry.Ian will show a variety of both tools, techniques and best practices, including tips and tricks from his own decades of experience in prototyping and modeling. You'll see first hand how to use tools you may already have to work in ways you probably never thought of, to make complex parts. You'll also learn different mold making techniques and special tools you've probably never seen before, or show good and safe ways to use these tools.You can choose to purchase the 3D printer parts kit, or the cheater kit of the laser cut birch plates and provide your own aluminum extrusions, bolts, hot head, etc… Or you can scratch design and build your own 3D printer from new parts or scavenged parts. Because you are the one designing and building your 3D printer, there are fewer limits to what you can do with it. It can have a huge printing bed compared to commercial 3D printers that would normally cost thousands of dollars, or you can retrofit it with a laser cutter to custom cut your own parts, or retrofit it with a milling head to cut your own custom metal parts. All these systems incorporate the same principles of the computer controlled gantry, effectively a robot.Please note this is a new course and it will take months to add all the lessons in. Here is some of what you will learn:What is prototyping?First secret of prototyping: *redacted* (it's a secret - you'll have to take the lesson)Be P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N.A.L.Some TerminologiesPro tip #1: Printable patterns & CADCase study: Mechanically animated museum displayMaking the plates for your 3D printer-simply machining of even metals to apply CAD to prototyping your partsRobot design (and 3D printer design)Designing electronic control boards for 3D printers and robotsEffective use of common power toolsMold making techniquesHow 3D printers work3D printer assembly3D scanning techniquesDesigning your 3D printer to double as a 3D scannerComputer Aided Design of robots and electromechanical devices3D modeling basics and designing your robots in CADThe various stages of assembly, calibration and testing of your 3D printerUsing your 3D printerMaking caterpillar tracks for your robotsPlastic workingFiberglass workingMetal workingPlastic forming for our submarine robot case study

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 What is prototyping?

Lecture 2 Expect failure

Lecture 3 Terminologies part 1

Lecture 4 First secret in prototyping

Lecture 5 015 P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N.A.L.

If you want to build your own robots and a 3D printer (which is a type of robot) or bring your inventions to reality.