www.3ders.org

Dec 27, 2014

Some kids spend summer vacation relaxing and hanging out with friends, but a pair of students at Palos Verdes on the Net spent their time designing a 3D printed search and rescue "grappler" made to fit under a quadcopter which will be delivered to the Los Angeles County Fire Department in June 2015.

Raul Castrellon and Lawrence Goo initially designed the grappler, a claw-like structure that opens and closes like the toy-grabbing machines that you see in arcades, to just pick up and move things around.

During the designing process, they came up with a new design which suited a search and rescue device, and it needed to carry a walkie talkie, cell phone, medical supplies,water etc, to a person who is not easily reachable.

Castrellon, who is a senior at Palos Verdes High School and president of the robotics team, and Goo, who is a junior at Peninsula High School, custom-designed many of the parts themselves.

"Most of the time, we can't even find a part to fit our needs, so we had to design it with a CAD program and then use 3D printing," says Castrellon. "To get it prototyped by a company would blow through our budget."

The project is supported by Ted Vegvari, president and executive director of PVNet, who is trying to raise funds for the project.

"We need a lot of money for parts, printing and testing," says Vegvari. "This is not cheap. We'd like to raise about $8,000 by February to complete and present it to the LA County Fire Department in June."

The project was sponsored by MatterHackers and Airwolf 3D. Thomas Ewald, the Assistant Interim Chief for the County of Los Angeles Fire Department, is also on board to help develop the prototype for his department's use. His recommendation to Castrellon and Goo for possible implementation is to make the device "rugged and reliable, simple to use and easily integrated into their operations."

"I look forward to working with the students in the months ahead to give them feedback as they move forward," Ewald says. "Innovations such as this have the potential to save lives and reduce property loss."

Vegvari says they hope that the fire department will actually use this, but if not, it will also be a project that could inspire students to come up with more innovative uses for 3D printing.

"Even if they don't use this actual model, we are designing it with the hope that it will be good enough to be used for what it's intended to do," Vegvari says. "We want to create something to build on – something which will gain momentum for other kids to pursue. We want to build awareness that youth can contribute and get involved with community emergency operations."

Intern Raul Castrellon and Jeff from Cal UAS

Castrellon is currently focusing on perfecting his prototype. "I'm at PVNet at least 10 hours a week, but I really like spending hours and hours thinking of ideas and then realizing that perfect idea. But the best part is saying, 'I made this. I put all my effort into this."

As for his future career, Castrellon is now on track to study mechanical engineering at Cal Poly Obispo next fall.

"I'll be the first person in my family to go to college," said Castrellon. "Both my parents came from Mexico, and didn't attend high school. My brothers went to high school, but I'll be the first one going to college."

 

Posted in 3D Printing Company

 

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