TARC rules for 3-D printing?

[boatgeek]

One of the best rules in TARC is that students have to do all of the work. Does anyone know how this breaks down on 3-D printed parts? I would expect students would have to create the 3-D model, but do they have to load the 3-D printer and push the figurative green button? Could students make the 3-D model and send it out to a printing shop? My teams want to use some printed parts for next year and I want to make sure they're on the right side of the rules.

Thanks!

 

[TheAviator]

I think you're asking in the wrong place. As I recall from my time in TARC (almost a decade ago!), there was an official email that you could use for rules interpretations.

IMO, which is unbinding, unofficial, and liable to get you in trouble, as long as your team makes the solid models, I don't see why you couldn't use something like Shapeways or the like to print it.

 

[doug_kosty]

Agree with the "ask the TARC program directly" comment, but I do not see how having a part fabricated ( that they designed) is any different than using commercially produced centering rings, bulkheads, nosecones, parachutes, etc. If the students do the design work ( no small task) they are really getting the experience that the program is seeking to promote.

 

[Incongruent]

One of the FAQs is about 3D printing rules.

https://rocketcontest.org/about-the-contest/faq/

We would like to build a composite or plastic rocket for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Would we be violating the rules if we had a trained technician mold it for us or 3-D print it for us using our design specifications?


Yes, you would be violating the Team America Rocketry Challenge rules. The flight vehicle must be made by the student team members. Having a custom flight vehicle part fabricated by a composite or plastics company or by a company that does custom fin cutting (even if it is to your design) does not constitute sale of a “standard off the-shelf product” and is not allowed. Having a mandrel fabricated to your specifications that you wrap fiberglass on to make your rocket body would be OK. In this case the company is making a tool that you are using to make the part that flies. Having parts made on a 3-dimensional printer would be OK as long as the students write the program and run the printer.

 

[Incongruent]

See if you have a makerspace nearby that you can go to and the students can print at if the school doesn't have a 3D printer.

 

[boatgeek]

Thanks all. I missed the 3-D print rule in the FAQs.

 

[Ez2cDave]

QUESTION : We would like to build a composite or plastic rocket for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Would we be violating the rules if we had a trained technician mold it for us or 3-D print it for us using our design specifications?

ANSWER : Yes, you would be violating the Team America Rocketry Challenge rules. The flight vehicle must be made by the student team members. Having a custom flight vehicle part fabricated by a composite or plastics company or by a company that does custom fin cutting (even if it is to your design) does not constitute sale of a “standard off the-shelf product” and is not allowed. Having a mandrel fabricated to your specifications that you wrap fiberglass on to make your rocket body would be OK. In this case the company is making a tool that you are using to make the part that flies. Having parts made on a 3-dimensional printer would be OK as long as the students write the program and run the printer.