Team Duct Tape enjoyed an amazingly edifying evening of design and construction at Tampa Technik October 22. Armed with some drawings of their idea, they met with technologist Paul Marnuk and evaluated their design together and discussed how to create it.

Team members drew out their entire pattern on the aluminum and worked with Mr. Markun to fashion the sheet metal, bending it into the desired shape, customizing materials and creating the brackets to attach it to the robot.

With Mr. Marnuk’s guidance, team members learned to use a bandsaw , belt sander , a vice equipped with a metal bender , a hand drill, and a bench grinder . They also learned about a variety of really incredible measuring tools , like the 123 Block , which Mr. Marnuk calls an indispensible tool, Vernier calliper, and squares.

They learned a lot about proper measuring and cutting, and Mr. Marnuk helped them evaluate some of their overall design elements a little better. They went home with a mostly completed robot and some fresh considerations for tweaking design and improving operation.

We can’t wait for Tempest in Tampa this weekend, to try it out on the practice field!

Thank you again, Mr. Markun for your guidance and expertise, and for letting Team Duct Tape experience the joy of having the right tool(s) for the job.