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5. Piston Holder CAD Challenge

While I was working on my mechatronics project that consisted of using 3d printed parts. I realized that there was not a standard way to attach vex pistons to your robot or mechanism, it usually just involved using zip ties or tape. The design consists of a plastic band that holds the piston around and with a little bit of pressure from the screws. After a couple of days, I started realizing how useful this part was after my classmates kept asking if I could print one for them. This part was initially meant to just hold the piston for the claw I was designing but ended up in every one of my classmate’s projects.   This new design would be useful for our robot but any kind of robot that uses pistons, it’ll be able to incorporate pistons anywhere you want in your robot as long as there is enough space for it. It’ll make easier the process of incorporating a part into any kind of design using vex metal since it holds the piston very sturdily in any spot of the piston you want I used Tinkercad on the lastest version Tinkercad 2019_10_14, I started designing something simple I wanted to use as little amount of PLA material as possible for this design. I started with a cylinder a couple of millimeters thicker than a piston and then I used a smaller cylinder the size of the piston to make a hole inside it, after that, I attached 2 squares on the sides that would allow me to make holes the size of Vex holes to allow me to insert screws through. I learned that 3d designing can be very helpful, yes for designing a robot, planning strategies visualize, prototyping. It’s just a better way to get your idea across to your teammates instead of having to explain everything verbally, not directly but it just sparked more my interest in the stems field.