Construction
The CNC or Computer Numerical Control machine will help the team manufacture important parts that need to be made from aluminum. This machine allows them to cut through any metal with incredible precision. Thus far, they have started the fabrication of the chassis using the CNC.
Figure 2-1: CNC Machine (Hogue)
The Plasma Cutter located in the foundry at CWU provides the students with a high temperature precision flame that allows them to cut through metal without the hassle of programming the CNC. The shock tower was the first part that was fabricated by the Plasma Cutter. They will be using this machine more as the year progresses.
Figure 2-2: Plasma Cutter (Hogue)
The 3D-Printing room located in Hogue provides the team with three MakerBots. By converting any SolidWorks file to an .stl, they are able to plug and play with the printer. Every part that will no be under high load will be fabricated in this room with either PLA, ABS, or Carbon Fiber material.
Figure 2-3: 3D-Printing Room (Hogue)
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The machine shop located in Hogue helped the team shave down material of rods that will be used for the control arms, attached to the chassis. This will be important because of detailed accuracy that this machine provides. The accessibility of this machine will be great since there are over 5 in the machine shop ready to use.
Figure 2-4: Lathe (Hogue)
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Figure 2-5: Handheld Plasma (Foundry)
The handheld plasma cutter located at the Foundry has helped the team with using a high temperature flame to melt metals on command. This was not as accurate as the other plasma cutter since it will not be programmed. The importance of the handheld will be the ease of access to different angles since the computer aided plasma can only be at a 90 degree and can be difficult to cut through aluminum.
The shock tower was constructed by a 3D-printer that took roughly 4 hours to successfully complete. This will be important to talk about since time management has been the biggest key in the project.
Video 1-3: Shock Tower
In this video, the team put down multiple parts at once since it was in their best interest to keep on track. It may have taken more time to complete but there were no failures in this construction. This shows bolts and a control arm being made which took about 7 hours to successfully complete.
Video 1-4: Control Arms and bolts
The photos above are the 5 main ways the team will be manufacturing the device. All three are located in Hogue at CWU. They have access to them with provided material thanks to the university. The videos provided are the beginning process of the construction.
