ABC’s BattleBots pits a horde of 250-pound robots against each other in gear-grinding, fire-spewing combat, but Lisa Winter brings her ladybug doppelganger, Mega Tento, to the match. Created with the help of a Tormach PCNC 1100, Winter’s cutesy robot of doom is more than meets the eye, but this fierce competitor’s story started more than a decade ago.
Earlier this week, we visited a local technical school, Madison College, to see what they were up to with their PCNC 440. As part of the automation integration program, an array of students have had the opportunity to use Fanuc robots for different programming and automation challenges. Students did everything from packaging candy to unpacking a CD. But, we’re biased, and our favorite took blank
Here at Tormach, we love getting involved in education and giving students a chance to get hands-on experience with real tools. That’s why we spent last weekend at the FIRST Robotics Regional Competition, in Milwaukee, WI, cheering on kids who built robots to compete for a place at the national event. Also during the event, the State of Wisconsin signed a new law that commits $250k in general purpose revenue to grants to help high-school teams participate in robotics events, like FIRST.
There have been a fair number of articles lately touching on the increased use of robots and AI in various industries and what that future means for the job market. In the fabrication industry, we’ve long known about the value of robots in the workplace. CNC is a form of robotics, and it only exemplifies the value in automation. Beyond the workplace, though, robots serve an entirely different purpose.
Star Wars and the associated branding is rife throughout the media and advertising outlets as the latest chapter in the epic space saga is released.
With their size and approachable design, Tormach machines have found their way into a number of classrooms at high schools and colleges around the nation. While the uses for a CNC mill or lathe in the classroom may seem obvious – teaching kids to machine parts – you may be surprised at how many teachers are doing much more than just teaching machining.
