Ignite!STEAM 3D CNC Router for Robotics Teams
Project Ignite!STEAM is about connecting imagination, creation and team work for improved student design, innovation, STEAM, STEM, product-realization or team learning experience.
Tecla Innovation has been supporting local robotics and CAD/CAM student teams for over 20 years. Recently, a high school teacher and mentor developed an idea to support a pre-designed and packaged CNC kit to help improve the learning experience at a better price and reliability.
The Design Process
Today’s STEAM, STEM, CAD/CAM, Robotics, and Vocational student teams need engaging and meaningful hands-on educational projects. In concert with learning the fundamentals of engineering and design a student team can benefit from building and trying something quickly to understand how their designs can improve. Actually trying a new idea in building a model or working prototype is critical to arriving at the best final design.
Robotic Team Support
Educational CNC and CAD/CAM Educational System will receive periodic updates and contribute to improving student educational opportunities in the United States and Internationally. Over 20 years of Robotic Team coaching and real industrial experience has created a versatile and cost-effective 3D CNC Router to help Robotic Teams iterate on best parts for their robots and to support rapid repair parts. The larger, low cost parts will complement your existing 3D Printer capabilities and other manufacturing capabilities.
Rapid Prototyping
Educational CNC and CAD/CAM Educational System will receive periodic updates and contribute to improving student educational opportunities in the United States and Internationally. Over 20 years of Robotic Team coaching and real industrial experience has created a versatile and cost-effective 3D CNC Router to help Robotic Teams iterate on best parts for their robots and to support rapid repair parts. The larger, low cost parts will complement your existing 3D Printer capabilities and other manufacturing capabilities.
There is a growing use of custom CNC Routers to build capabilities that teachers and students find worthwhile. 3D-Printers are great help to improve learning, but due to their slow speed, maintenance needs, part-fragileness, limited part size, and cost this is limiting getting each student a working, refined full-size prototype of their idea. CNC machining can complement the 3D printing process producing larger, full scale and functionally representative models of larger components with a reduced cycle time compared to conventional 3D printing methods.
This full multi-cycle design and manufacturing experience is in high demand. Classrooms, maker teams, and robotic teams are turning to open source CNC software and standard components to support better multi-cycle CAD/CAM improved learning experience.
Despite the lower cost of this approach compared to industrial CNC, early teacher/team leaders have found the cost and complexity have been out of reach of most middle school and high school and STEAM programs. It is taking between 80 hours to 200 hours to research, buy parts, assemble and troubleshoot plus a cost of parts around $12,000 to $15,000 to build a worthwhile CNC machine for the students on par with Ignite! STEAM 3D CNC Router.
Our Support
Tecla Innovation has a 125 year history of innovation including Thomas E. Clark’s early work with Henry Ford and Thomas Edison to invent the early AM radio technology and ship to shore communication system over 100 years ago. Together, we are exploring building an educational CNC kit that provides the improved teacher/student learning opportunity while further cutting the cost and complexity. Tecla Innovation has built growing online support community to allow students and educators to share part designs and learning best practices.
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