Robotics and Materials Science
Some of our Year 12 Industry and Entrepreneurial students have been experimenting with components of material science.
Students are creating CAD designs, using Rhinoceros and Grasshopper software to fabricate designs for the Plasma cutter, situated in the Fab Lab of the new STEAM building.
Their designs will be manufactured in-house, and then will be installed outside in the environment, to investigate how the materials respond to our tropical climate over a period of time.
The group is also investigating different types of metal to determine the best resistance to rust and longevity. Several test metal samples were placed on the deck on one of the school’s robot arms. Students then programmed the to dip and wipe hydrogen peroxide and seawater for 60 minutes or approximately 300 swipes, to achieve a controlled application of rusting solutions. This allowed them to accelerate the rusting aspect of their investigation and consider how best to address this issue, to inform the design and the manufacturing process.
Also in the STEAM building, our Year 12 Digital Communication Solutions students are testing architectural materials to examine which building materials might be best used in their Revit projects, to design a preschool playground. These students used the robot to measure an impact and scrape test, using a metal point on the end of the robot arm. Several thousand impacts and scratches are registered providing students with a useful sample of test results to evaluate and make recommendations for their designs.