It’s 2021, and all of us are finally back in person! For the past several weeks, we’ve mostly been doing some organization, but we also hosted a weekend workshop for students to gain some technical experience.
Outside and in the metal and wood shop, students learned about the use of power tools such as the jigsaw, drill, sawzall, circular saw, and the miter saw. After power tool demonstrations from our leads, we got to try them out for ourselves. We cut pieces of wood using the circular saw and drove wood screws into them to connect the pieces. We also learned to use the drill press and rivet gun.
Inside the classroom, there were four stations: electrical basics, electrical components, robot demonstration, and CAD. At the first station, students learned to crimp wires and solder, and at the next, we learned about the various electrical components onboard the robot. Right after, we learned more about the functions of remote control software and drove around a robot. Finally, we used Onshape to create small designs and cutting them out using the laser cutter.
With basic training finished, we’ll be continuing with advanced training, where students will learn to specialize in a specific area of robotics. We’re looking forward to later activities!
Former Communications Lead, Stats @ CMU