The latest installment of our new series of articles, "How We Do It," is about our good friends downstairs, SuperDroid Robots.
Read the whole article
here.
We've known the guys at
SuperDroid Robots for several years now. We first met them back when we had the shop on Ransdell Rd, when Charlie Payne brought his company to the south end of Monk's Rental. When they moved out of Monk's, we came with them, and now we share a building with SuperDroid.
SuperDroid design and manufacture a wide variety of robots used by SWAT teams, fire departments, the Air Force, and National Geographic, to name a few. Just last year they were featured on the Science Channel's show "All-American Makers" showing off the "Fire-Bot," which allows first responders to survey a scene for any hazards before entering.
The fact that SuperDroid produce almost everything as orders are placed and that everything they produce is made in their shop in North Carolina allows their customers to configure the robot to be exactly what is wanted or needed, including the remote OCUs (Operator Control Units), which is where Tapeworks comes in.
The OCUs need some sort of descriptive panel so the customer knows what they're doing, so SuperDroid come to us for these panels, for which we make special decals for whatever the controls may be.
And Here's How We Make It:
1
We start with SuperDroid sending us a full-scale .dxf file of the file and a handwritten guide as to what it needs to say.
2
We bring these files into Adobe Illustrator, add the text, defining boxes and arrows, colorize it as requested, import and place the client-provided artwork, and submit it (usually to Paul) for approval before printing.
3
Once the design is approved, we add the bounding box and crop marks, send it to our large-format printer, and print. It's a 3-day minimum process just to get the decal ready for installation on the CNC-machined ABS panel.
Day 1: Print
Day 2: Let the solvents in the ink evaporate
Day 3: Apply high-gloss laminate for protection and durability.
4
When that three-day process is over and the decals have been laminated, we bring them to our vinyl cutter, align the machine to the graphics using each panel's crop marks, and cut the sticker to the panel shape, including all fastener and joystick holes.
5
The finished decals are installed on the ABS panels and given back to SuperDroid for final OCU assembly.
Tapeworks Graphics/Stripe-It-All
1-800-232-8273
