Career center NICS students learning about 3D printer
Students in the NICS program at the Coshocton County Career Center gathered around the 3D printer they’ve been using to create a fully programmable robot. What they have completed of the robot is pictured on the table next to the printer. Josie Sellers | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Students in the NICS program at the Coshocton County Career Center are using the school’s new 3D printer to create a programmable robot.
“When they are done, it (the robot) will have a motion sensor, camera, auto, and be able to walk, talk, pick things up and twist and turn,” said Bart Winegar, director of technology for the career center. “It’s a way for them to study science, technology, engineering and math. They also will be using programming to tell it do different tasks.”
He added that the 3D printer works on the same principals as Dot Matrix Printers.
“They could only go left and right, but 3D printers go left and right, back and forth and up and down,” Winegar said.
The printer has multiple color spools that are a special type of plastic and a computer is used to tell it what to do.
“You use a computer to design the parts you want printed,” Winegar said. “When you’re finished you hit print, just like you would if you wanted to print a piece of paper. It just takes a lot longer to print, but these are now being used in multiple types of businesses.”
Winegar said a company in California is using a 3D printer in car manufacturing and there is a Chinese company using them to print homes. Of course 3D printers used for these projects are much bigger than the one the career center has.
This is the first year for the NICS program at the career center. The group is mostly made up of juniors, but there is one senior joining them on their journey to learn more about computer hardware and skills such as trouble shooting and networking. They also have to learn about different types of printers, including the 3D ones, so they know how to set them up and manage them.
“This (the 3D printer) is the technology of the future,” said Bryan Hardesty, NICS instructor. “It’s an awesome tool that we can learn from and a bit of a toy we can have fun with.”
Category: Education
