Teaching Industry Relevant and Application Oriented Skills in Automation and Control by Developing State-of-the-Art Integrated Robotic Workcell

Final Paper pdf 791KB

There is an increasing demand for automation in the industry due to expensive manual labor and faster manufacturing processes. Therefore, there is a need to educate future engineers in relevant to current industry needs automated systems which generally consist of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), industrial robots, conveyors, pneumatic, various sensors and vision systems. Objective of this project is to develop an integrated work cell using 6-axis FANUC robots, PLCs, Conveyor, Sensors, pneumatics and vision systems for academic curriculum bridging the gap between industry and educational institution by teaching rapidly emerging technologies. The developed system provide the students with an opportunity to develop real time scenarios in material handling applications similar pick and place parts moving on a conveyor using sensors and vision systems, end-effector tools, hand shaking of two 6-axis robots and controlled by PLC. Training engineering professionals and testing them on different applications using a single work cell will help them to develop a holistic approach towards solving real time solutions in the automation industry. Presented in this paper work provides a detailed, state-of-the-art laboratory setup that can be replicated by the other educational institutions demanding to expand in the field of industrial automation and controls.

Author(s):

Aleksandr Sergeyev    
Electrical Engineering Technology
Michigan Tech
United States

Siddharth Parmar    
Mechanical Enginnering
Michigan Tech
United States

Nasser Alaraje    
Electrical Engineering Technology
Michigan Tech
United States