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I'm in the process of creating such a space for myself. How much space should I dedicate to such a lab? I'm interested in IoT, robotics, databases, wood and met

I'm in the process of creating such a space for myself. How much space should I dedicate to such a lab? I'm interested in IoT, robotics, databases, wood and metal working. I'm designing the house around the room. I basically want to build a research lab where I could make any idea a reality -- within reason of course. Could you offer any guidance from your experience with such a lab? I have a lot of questions like, What kind of floor should it have? How tall should the walls be? How much space do I need for each of the tasks I want to perform in the lab? Which tools will I need and how much space does each one require? Can I make the tools movable or should the be fixed in place? Do I need a gantry crane?

ChuckMcM 7y ago
It kind of depends on what you're doing. Two of my friends have done the 'double decker garage' idea, which is to put the machine/wood shop on the ground floor and the office/electronics on the upper floor. My wife still believes that cars go in garages so I have yet to claim the full downstairs :-). Things I find most useful in my space are the electronics bench, the computer "station" (3 monitors on a desk), and the "small fab" bench (3D printer, mini-mill (Sherline), various holding jigs). I've got parts and such upstairs but they could reasonably be anywhere. My activities are primarily small circuit design/build/test, small mechanisms (robot) design/build/test, and algorithm research. These things don't have a lot of consumables per hour of engagement so they can go for a long time on relatively low additional investment. For larger fabrication having a garage door and a concrete floor are essential. But the kinds of things you want to work on and create is pretty intensely personal usually. A friend who likes to build airplanes built an assembly hanger that was roughly 40' x 60'. I have never found the space I have above the two car garage (and the same size square feet wise) to be an issue. What I have done over the years is look at the projects on the queue, and the things I want to learn, and then built to support those efforts.
- anon1m0us 7y ago
  Awesome!@ Thank you. I didn't realize there were benchtop mini-mills like that. That's perfect for what I want to do. I think I'll have enough space! I'm pretty much interested in the same things.k

ChuckMcM 7y ago

It kind of depends on what you're doing. Two of my friends have done the 'double decker garage' idea, which is to put the machine/wood shop on the ground floor and the office/electronics on the upper floor. My wife still believes that cars go in garages so I have yet to claim the full downstairs :-). Things I find most useful in my space are the electronics bench, the computer "station" (3 monitors on a desk), and the "small fab" bench (3D printer, mini-mill (Sherline), various holding jigs). I've got parts and such upstairs but they could reasonably be anywhere. My activities are primarily small circuit design/build/test, small mechanisms (robot) design/build/test, and algorithm research. These things don't have a lot of consumables per hour of engagement so they can go for a long time on relatively low additional investment. For larger fabrication having a garage door and a concrete floor are essential. But the kinds of things you want to work on and create is pretty intensely personal usually. A friend who likes to build airplanes built an assembly hanger that was roughly 40' x 60'. I have never found the space I have above the two car garage (and the same size square feet wise) to be an issue. What I have done over the years is look at the projects on the queue, and the things I want to learn, and then built to support those efforts.

anon1m0us 7y ago
Awesome!@ Thank you. I didn't realize there were benchtop mini-mills like that. That's perfect for what I want to do. I think I'll have enough space! I'm pretty much interested in the same things.k