FIRST Tech Challenge is thrilled to announce a brand new video blog series to help teams and our community transition to the new FTC Android-based technology platform, powered by Snapdragon processors. FTC Tech Talk will bring you along through the transition with us, explaining the benefits of the changes and providing updates in real time. Ken Johnson, Director of FTC will be hosting FTC Tech Talk, so tune in each week for new updates. If you have questions please feel free to post them in the FTC Technology Forum, but remember to read through previous posts before posting and always use Gracious Professionalism.
This is the first entry of an 8-part series. Each entry will be published Tuesday, so be sure to look each week for the next post! 3D Printing for FIRST Teams Authors: Kari Karwedsky, PTC , and Colm Prendergast, Mentor for FRC Team 1965 Many FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams now have access to a 3D printer thanks to the generous donations of suppliers, but now what do you do with it? To get started, it’s probably a good idea to just tinker with it making something like a pencil cup to get a feel for how the printer works. But after that, how do you decide what makes sense to print for your robot? In this blog series we’ll review a robot design (by FRC Team 1965) that has several components that were 3D printed. This robot was specifically built to test the capabilities of 3D printing techniques. We will then walk through the 3D printing workflow used. We will discuss guidelines for deciding which parts might be good parts to consider 3D printing for your...
3D Printing for FIRST Teams Authors: Kari Karwedsky, PTC , and Colm Prendergast, Mentor for FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1965 3D Printing Work Flow The 3D Printing Work Flow that we use is composed of 7 steps. Step 1: Design your part using PTC Creo. Step 2: Export Model from PTC Creo in .stl format. Step 3: Prepare Model and Generate g-code file (or equivalent) for the printer. Step 4: Prepare and Level the 3D Printer Build Plate. Step 5: Load printer filament. Step 6: Print Model. Step 7: Clean up printed model. In this blog post, we will look more closely at Step 2. 3D Printing Step 2: Export Model from PTC Creo in .stl format. Once your model is completed it needs to be exported from PTC Creo before it can be printed. There are several file formats that can be used for this and PTC Creo supports a wide variety of industry standard file formats. You should check the file formats supported by your printer software before exporting your model. We are using the STL format. ST...
Eduardo Rodriguez, a professional engineer in Lubbock,Texas , has been a part of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for years. As Professor Alan Barhorst notes, Eduardo “was an early adopter of the FTC outreach. He willingly volunteered to help in the Head Referee position even though it was a position requiring certification.” That willingness to take on a challenge sets him apart as a volunteer . However, Eduardo admits that at the beginning, “the thought of not knowing what to expect made me very nervous. My nerves were quickly gone following the first match.” Yet, that nervousness does not translate on the field. For those watching him in the midst of a match, “Eduardo is a perfect Head Referee. He is calm and makes the critical calls in fair fashion. He has a dignity that exudes fairness among the teams. The other referees enjoy his leadership and the games are usually hitch-free.” As a referee, especially the Head Referee, Eduardo is constantly moving and...
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