ShopBots in Education

ShopBot in Education

From our beginnings, ShopBot's mission has been to make the CNC learning curve easier for students and teachers; to make the amazing capabilities of CNC more available to everyone.  We are committed to making our tools productive and to assisting teachers by providing technical support, networking opportunities and other resources necessary to ensure their programs can be as effective as possible.

Major school systems such a Clark County, NV (20 ShopBots), and Salt Lake City, UT (12 ShopBots) have been using ShopBots to train their students for years, and they have found that their graduates are able to find employment within a variety of industries.  As budgets get tighter and communities are asking for more accountability from their schools, the concept of providing skills which are not only current, but ahead of the market place, makes more and more sense.

"I am one of the few Trade & Industry teachers with a CNC machine in the state of Texas, so the market is there.  Once you have a few teachers competing with ShopBots, it will not be long before other teachers will want to stay competitive.
There are other CNC machines out there but none with better value than yours; however, what really sets ShopBot apart is the level of support.  Every person I talk to about your products, I tell them, 'On a scale of 1 to 10, ShopBot's level of support is a 30.'"

-Brett Dickinson, Lincoln Park High School

"Thank you all for sending Bill [Palumbo] to Higginsville [MO] and for sponsoring the [Camp ShopBot Teachers Camp].  I drove from Dubuque [IO] to attend, and it was well worth the seven-hour drive.  My only wish would have been for more time. There are so many great things going on with ShopBots.  It was a great opportunity and I just wanted to say thanks!!!"

-Mike Jensen, Dubuque Senior High School

 Lincoln Park High School, Brownsville, Texas

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. It helps each student excel.  SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations.

On Feb. 2-3, 2007, Brett Dickinson and his students from Lincoln Park High School in Brownsville, Texas participated in the SkillsUSA District 13 Leadership and Skills Competition at Texas State Technical College in Harlington, Texas.  With the help of its ShopBot CNC router, Lincoln Park qualified five students for the state competition and brought back a total of 10 project ribbons.

 
Click to watch Lincoln Park's "ShopBot Rap" video.

Technology and Education

CNC tools and ShopBots are becoming a focus for new types of technology training in educational settings.  As the traditional model of vocational training has waned, many school systems are adapting with newer technologies.  Along with the newer technology comes a training model that provides learning experience that readies students for advanced, well-paying positions and that teaches about growing and adjusting to new technology rather than just acquiring rote skills for individual machines or specific production processes.

There are now opportunities to provide students with training in emerging areas that are increasingly the standards for manufacturing,  production, and service in our global competitive world.  Students exposed to these new technologies can enter the field with knowledge that allows them to begin their careers with positions, not just jobs.

Traditional trades such as furniture making, cabinet building, construction, boat building, metal working, mold making, sign building, etc. are all making the transition to computerized machinery.  As competition from abroad threatens many “old school” businesses, there will be a tremendous need for trained CNC operators and programmers in the next decade and beyond.  This means a student can now enter a shop and command not only a better position, but a better salary.

One of the major factors that supports this shift is that students today, from early ages, are knowledgeable and comfortable with computers and their many uses.  They have used them in school for years, as well as at home.  This familiarity with computers has made the introduction of CAD/CAM software much easier, and more importantly it has given them a set of skills that are often superior to those of the established professionals in many of the industries they are entering.  They are very comfortable with using computers to do things and make things, and with the relationship between a software control system, a file of instructions and a physical tool.  These students can now move into industry and instead of becoming a “gopher” performing basic - often menial - dead-end services, they can enter a shop or factory with the knowledge to perform tasks their employers have yet to master.  This in turn opens new career paths which make them much more employable, and valuable as employees.

CNC Training for Technology Instructors in the Clark County, NV School System

Stockton Middle Schoolers

Put together a program to help kindergarteners build birdhouses and won first prize at California State Fair.

Lenox Memorial Middle & High School (MA)

ShopBot PRT BenchTop and some student projects

Integrating Technology

Schools have the challenge of providing their students with real-world training, and this can be done via inter-departmental co-operation.  For example, the computer classes work on the development of skills using CAD drawing programs.  These skills can be used in art, theatre and business coursework.  Vocational and technical departments provide projects and CNC machinery to realize designs in real world products and test skills with hands-on applications.  Depending on the orientation of the staff, practical projects can be arranged that not only provide students further experience, but provide services and support within the school system or community because this CNC technology will do real work.  Here are some examples;

• Every district has the need for hundreds of signs, and these can be done in house.  This not only saves a district considerable amounts of money, it also gives a realistic job experience to the students. 

• Art departments can incorporate design work into the signmaking and help get students more comfortable with hands-on work.

• Similar projects can be done to construct school furniture such as shelving and storage for classrooms and offices.

• Theatre departments can use CNC in producing sets and props. 

• Business and economics can be taught via a simulated small business course that involves production and sale of real products.

Recommending a ShopBot System for Education

Hardware:  
It is hard to recommend a system that is universally appropriate for all educational settings.  A first question will be whether a small tool is needed for a classroom (for this, our Buddy 32, Buddy48 or 4x4 sizes work well) or whether there is full shop space available (for this latter we would recommend a 4x8 size tool).  Whether large or small, all ShopBots have full power and full cutting and machining capabilities and all use the same motors, drives and control systems.  The second question in educational settings is budget.  We believe that a PRSalpha is the best choice of type of ShopBot for education because the motors and drives in this system are high speed and technologically sophisticated and will provide students experience with the kind of performance found in industrial settings.  However, if the question is one of getting CNC into the curriculum at the lowest cost, then a PRSstandard will more than adequately fill the need, differing primarily in having lower productions speeds (see PRSalpha or PRSstandard sections).

A similar choice faces educators in terms of router vs. spindle and universal vacuum for holding parts.  A spindle and a universal vacuum pump would most completely model the industrial or commercial production situation; however, great CNC work can be done with a standard router and purpose-designed hold-downs.  So, to give you an idea to work with, we list here a PRSstandard 96-48 with just a router as an example tool.  Later on - if you have the funding - upgrade to PRSalpha motors and a spindle and vacuum to create an industrial tool.

Software:  
ShopBot's PartWorks (CAD/CAM) design system comes with an educational license.  You are free to install this design software on as many computers in your school as you would like.  ShopBot PartWorks (and PartWorks 3D) is an easy system to teach your students, and you will be able to do a wide range of CNC work with it.  In addition, working with ArtCAM/Delcam we are able to provide very attractive educational software discounts on ArtCAM products (ArtCAM Insignia, ArtCAM Pro).  For high-end modeling and sculpting we recommend ArtCAM Pro. For a more affordable option, we recommend Vectric's Aspire software.
[See Software Page] [See Software Comparison Table]

ShopBot Resources for Education and Training

We are committed to CNC and technology education.  In fact, several of us at ShopBot have worked in education, and we have dozens of years of combined teaching experience.  We work hard to provide support and resources for teachers and students. That process begins with providing the most easy-to-use and capable piece of CNC software and equipment available.  The ShopBot PartWorks Suite software for designing and toolpathing is a great introduction to CNC - intuitive for first-time users, yet powerful enough for complicated designing.  Ease of use of our tools is one of the things that have made ShopBot the largest producer of affordable CNC routers in the world.  ShopBot’s CNC code is one of the most straightforward to understand and work with, and it is output by all major CAD/CAM software.

Besides our tools, the most important thing we have to offer educators is a range of support and training resources.

• ShopBot Technical Support (available by email, phone and fax and is always free)

• Files and projects, ready to cut (Project Wizard)

• Talk ShopBot Forum (always available with help and information)

• Documentation (ShopBot manuals and other information; free)

• Tutorials (Tutorials on using software and other helpful learning documents; free)

• Materials for CNC Instructors (our collections of helpful material for teachers; free)

Please contact us if you would like to be added to this page