Learning CAD!💻

Hey again! Birch Bots are up and running, and working hard to have a smooth start to the season. Last week, the build team was working on the wheel which was really interesting because it has new features that will really help the robot overall excel. Now for the more exciting part of this week, Coach Emily really went over core vocabulary for Solid Works (CAD) which is a program to help prototype certain parts of the robot. Today the vocabulary was discussed in depth, so when Solid Works is being used by the students they will have a good understanding of the work they are doing. They worked on: comparing the robot to shapes, learning about 3D designs, and extrusion with the base and cut. She also taught about mirroring and patterning in design whether circular or linear. They also talked about lofting and different types of planes. Another important topic that was covered today was FEA which stands for: Finite Element Analysis. This tests how strong the parts are and how much impact the parts can take before they will break. Something else Coach Emily touched on was the Axis of Revolution, which is an axis in a plane about which an area is revolved to form a solid of revolution. Overall, all of the students participated with high amounts of enthusiasm which was great! The team all seemed to have a good understanding of what was being talked about and if any questions were asked Coach Emily was quick to help.! Even though the work was serious, everyone still managed to have a good time and the meeting was filled with laughs. Shout out to Max W for attending because it was his birthday! Can’t wait to see what the team has to offer for the future!