157 kids in the Construction 1 and Construction 2 classes were taught how to use the ShopBot CNC machine during the fall semester of 2021 by Ray Hari.  There are 4 periods of Construction 1 class and 1 period of Construction 2 class, each with about 30 to 34 students.

The class curriculum is as follows. This is a one semester project.

Day 1: ( 40 mins. )  ( for the whole class of 30-34 students ) x 5 periods

Power point presentation - Overview of CNC, CAD, CAM followed by a YouTube video by April Wilkerson showing her CNC machine shop.  This gave them an overview of what they can do with CNC machines and how they could also start their own business doing CNC work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn6vUag_mHo

Day 2: ( 95 mins. ) ( x 4 batches of 8 students each at the CAD workstations ) x 5 periods

Each student was given a 20"x5.5" pine board on which they would create their work.

The students were taught how to use the VCarve Pro Computer Aided Design software to do their design and prep work for manufacturing.

Day 3: ( 95 mins. ) ( x 4 batches of 8 students each at the CAD workstations ) x 5 periods

The students created the actual design, the toolpaths and saved all the design files into a USB drive.

Day 4: ( 40 mins. per student  at the ShopBot machine + 5 mins. at the bandsaw and belt sander ) x 157 students

The design files were loaded onto the computer connected to a ShopBot Desktop Max CNC machine. They used the  ShopBot 3 software to do the manufacturing on the CNC machine.  Once the work on the CNC machine was done, they took the finished work to the bandsaw to remove the waste material and then to the belt sander to do the 'detab' and clean the edges of the board.

The students did all the work themselves from start to finish and they enjoyed the whole process of learning what it takes to do Computer Automation in Manufacturing. 

~ Ray Hari ~