Xometry Triathlon Athlete Partnership: Breaking Standardization Barriers for Custom‑Built Components

Building a CNC machine from scratch is full of moments where you find out whether your design actually works, or whether it only worked inside CAD. In the world of custom machine building, the transition from a digital model to physical assembly is rarely seamless. This was one of those moments.

In the world of custom machine building, I’ve found there is a constant tug-of-war between theoretical performance and physical reality. As "The Practical Engineer," I dedicated this project to creating a 5-axis CNC machine that prioritizes rigidity over sheer speed.

Preparing for the 2026 Air Cargo Challenge, the Fly-Mi team is developing Heméra, a fixed-wing UAV designed for maximum payload transport. This project integrates advanced aerodynamics, structural FEM analysis, and precision-engineered aluminum tooling to create a twin-motor aircraft capable of reaching flight speeds of 35 m/s.

Go behind the scenes for the development of Torx: the combat robot built by Accu for FightFest 2026, with CNC machining support from Xometry. Explore the journey from the drawing board to the arena, showing how a combat robotics project takes shape, and see how Torx went on to win the official FightFest Championship trophy.

By using agile testing and redesigning a double-sided support to resolve motor deformation and calibration challenges, the TGM student team successfully turned 3D printing waste into high-quality PLA filament.

Through topology optimization, refined kinematics, and a custom steering system, the WUT Racing team from Warsaw University of Technology reduced the weight of key WUT-7 components by over 50%, bringing their ultra-lightweight design from concept to track via precision manufacturing.

Team Arion, a student racing team from Singapore International School Hong Kong, used Xometry’s AI‑powered on‑demand manufacturing platform to overcome the hurdles of small‑batch, complex parts production, accelerated their design iterations, and went on to win the 2025 STEM Racing championship along with the Best Engineering Design Award.

With Xometry, we have found a manufacturing partner that supports our development philosophy. The ability to quickly and precisely order small batches of parts gives us the freedom to iteratively improve our robots. This flexibility is essential to our innovation process.

The transition to electric has been a steep learning curve, but what keeps us moving forward is our ability to adapt and to work closely as a team. Every mistake or setback becomes a lesson that makes us stronger. Even when continuity is difficult, with experienced members graduating and new ones joining, the project itself becomes the bridge, carrying knowledge and experience forward.

Our project brings biological thinking to a field it rarely touches: thermal engineering. We are developing a thermally conductive nanolayer that coats heat exchange surfaces to combat biofouling and the buildup of dust and sediment.

To turn these components into reality, we required high-precision manufacturing with fast turnaround times. Through Xometry, we produced a brass test chamber for our injector experiments, machined to the specifications needed for our early-stage testing.

At this time, we decisively decided to significantly simplify the design, allowing it to achieve higher precision and tolerance control through machining. During the redesign process, we realized that we needed to find a partner capable of manufacturing high-precision prototype parts—so we chose Xometry.