You got some great advice here.
I agree on the safety of the robot arm of course and imagine you can put up some off-the-shelf fencing system.
I was just thinking in line with the showcasing potential for the faculty, this is quite important for any school.
At my university there is a lightning generator that isn’t directly useful for anything but demonstrations really, and the 250k Objet printer was not absolutely necessary but it does show people things that aren’t possible anywhere else and some potential uses.
If you’re talking about workshops, electronics are absolutely fundamental in design schools. They are common now here in Europe so I don’t classify it as anything near cutting edge. From almost 10 years working as a student in electronic labs you learn that this is the place that vacuums up your budget very rapidly, so a good policy for part acquisition is fundamental.
Good students will learn to design for injection moldability as well as other processes without any need for demonstration, factory visits are a better way to get an insight into the industry and usually don’t cost much if anything.
A great middle way can be to develop ‘experimentation platforms’ - develop some basic robots that students can use to program interactions and movements, even convert into a machine of their own design by having it act as the frame for their design.
Similarly, you can establish a materials laboratory where people can get a sense for all kinds of materials together with all current know-how.
For product testing and photography, having a simulated environment is also a great idea. A single order from Ikea together with some cameras and other sensing technologies can bring you all you need to develop your own living room lab. The in-context photos students can make there are also great PR for the faculty.