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Manufacturing Pathway

The Manufacturing pathway develops students from safe tool use to repeatable production planning, CAM workflows, and fabrication leadership. The focus is on making parts accurately, safely, and on schedule while creating feedback loops that improve design quality.

Core Public Resources

Level Pages

Level 0: Exposure

Learning objectives

  • Build strong shop safety habits
  • Identify common fabrication tools and what each one does
  • Understand why accurate measurement matters

Required skills

  • Wear PPE correctly
  • Follow tool-specific safety directions
  • Secure material before cutting or drilling

Core concepts and theory

  • Basic shop safety
  • Tool categories: hand tools, saws, drill presses, mills, lathes, CNC, and 3D printers
  • Measurement and layout basics

Hands-on activities

  • Safety walkthrough
  • Measure and mark stock
  • Drill and deburr a simple practice part

Suggested mini-projects

  • Safety signoff board
  • Simple wooden or plastic practice bracket

Assessment of mastery

  • Student passes safety check and names basic tools correctly
  • Student demonstrates safe setup and cleanup

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

  • Loose clothing or poor PPE use
  • Holding material by hand instead of clamping
  • Skipping deburring

Expected outcomes

  • Ready for supervised fabrication of simple parts

Level 1: Foundations

Learning objectives

  • Read basic drawings and produce simple parts accurately
  • Use common hand and bench tools with consistency
  • Learn inspection habits that catch errors early

Required skills

  • Measure with rulers, calipers, and squares
  • Drill, cut, file, and deburr
  • Check hole location and edge quality

Core concepts and theory

  • Reading dimensions and tolerances
  • Material selection basics
  • Why finish quality affects assembly

Hands-on activities

  • Fabricate simple brackets from a print
  • Compare finished parts to drawing dimensions
  • Practice repeatable layout and drilling

Suggested mini-projects

  • Matching bracket pair
  • Small gusset set for a training frame

Assessment of mastery

  • Student produces a part that matches drawing intent
  • Student identifies defects before assembly

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

  • Inaccurate layout lines
  • Drilling without center marking
  • Leaving burrs that distort fit

Expected outcomes

  • Can support manual fabrication for robot prototypes and simple assemblies

Level 2: Application

Learning objectives

  • Convert CAD into manufacturable outputs
  • Run entry-level CNC, laser, router, or 3D print workflows safely
  • Verify fit between manufactured parts and the assembly they support

Required skills

  • Export and check manufacturing files
  • Understand workholding and machine zero
  • Inspect parts against intended use, not only nominal dimensions

Core concepts and theory

  • CAM basics
  • Additive versus subtractive manufacturing tradeoffs
  • First-article inspection and repeatability

Hands-on activities

  • Prepare a part for CNC or additive manufacturing
  • Manufacture a real robot component
  • Fit-check the part in a prototype or assembly

Suggested mini-projects

  • 3D-printed sensor mount
  • CNCed gearbox plate or bellypan component

Assessment of mastery

  • Student produces a functional part that installs correctly
  • Student documents the manufacturing process and settings used

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

  • Wrong zero or orientation
  • Unsupported print orientation
  • CAM posted without reviewing toolpath intent

Expected outcomes

  • Can own production of simple robot parts and prototypes

Level 3: Leadership

Learning objectives

  • Plan manufacturing flow for a subsystem
  • Balance machine time, accuracy, and schedule pressure
  • Lead quality checks and fabrication prioritization

Required skills

  • Build fabrication plans from CAD and drawings
  • Sequence parts logically
  • Coordinate with Design and Mechanical on revisions

Core concepts and theory

  • Workflow planning
  • Batch efficiency and setup reduction
  • Inspection checkpoints and rework control

Hands-on activities

  • Plan and fabricate a subsystem’s part set
  • Run first-article inspection and approve production continuation
  • Track machine, stock, and labor constraints

Suggested mini-projects

  • Manufacturing plan for an intake or elevator
  • Tooling or fixture for repeated part accuracy

Assessment of mastery

  • Student delivers parts on schedule with acceptable quality
  • Student catches a manufacturability issue before wasted stock or time

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

  • Starting production before confirming revision status
  • Running batches without checking the first part
  • Optimizing for speed while creating assembly problems later

Expected outcomes

  • Can lead manufacturing for a competition subsystem

Level 4: Mentor

Learning objectives

  • Build a scalable fabrication training and certification process
  • Improve robot quality by feeding manufacturing lessons back into design
  • Set standards for safety, inspection, and release readiness

Required skills

  • Teach machine workflows clearly
  • Design training fixtures and repeatable onboarding exercises
  • Balance education with build-season throughput

Core concepts and theory

  • Standard work
  • Continuous improvement in a student shop
  • Design-manufacturing feedback loops

Hands-on activities

  • Run shop certifications and supervised labs
  • Create manufacturing checklists and release gates
  • Review season failures for root causes tied to process or design

Suggested mini-projects

  • Team fabrication handbook
  • Standard fixture or inspection kit

Assessment of mastery

  • The shop produces safer, more repeatable student work across seasons
  • New students advance faster because training is structured and documented

Common mistakes and troubleshooting

  • Turning shop rules into a checklist without real understanding
  • Accepting hidden rework as normal
  • Failing to push manufacturability feedback upstream

Expected outcomes

  • Can mentor a fabrication program and maintain safe, repeatable manufacturing standards