NC School of Science and Mathematics

The Zebracorns is a robotics team at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a two-year public residential STEM high school. When participating in robot building competitions, the juniors and seniors of The Zebracorns work under very specific limitations including weight and tight timelines. Markforged technology helps them make the most of these limits by being able to print strong, lightweight parts using continuous carbon and provides a simpler process that is ideal for fast iteration. The ability to make custom structural parts incentivized team members to enhance their CAD and design skills to increase weight and functional benefits over off-the-shelf components.

The Zebracorns used Markforged printers to quickly optimize this wheel module that is crucial to their robot's locomotion. By printing their parts in Onyx reinforced with continuous carbon fiber, the wheel module was not only strong enough for immediate testing but also used in the final design. By lightweighting the parts, the robot is able to move more quickly and win more points for the team. The Zebracorns look to continue to leverage the strength of the composites in order to lightweight other parts and maximize the robot’s performance.