Senior Project Team Meets Success at International Competitions
Mobile Robotic Workcell
The 2005-06 Senior Project
team Automated Promotional Engineering Systems (APES)
recently took honors in two international design competitions.
A paper and poster were prepared for the design presentations.
The team developed a mobile robotic workcell capable
of solving a Rubik's cube and assembling an automotive
distributor as it showcases various automation technologies
including the use of vision sensors. Team members included
John Benjamin, Brad Bertels, Greg Johnson, Kate Kuuskman,
Ben Mitchell and Leith Nader. Through the encouragement
of the team's faculty advisor, Jim Devaprasad, Kuuskman
and Bertels did the preparations and represented LSSU
at the competitions.
Kate Kuuskman, a senior in mechanical engineering
with a robotics and automation option from Sault
Ste. Marie, Ont., attended the UPADI Pan American
Convention for Engineers, which was held September
19-22, 2006 in Atlanta, Ga. LSSU was one of five universities
invited to attend. Other participating schools
were Cornell University, Michigan Tech, Air Force
Academy and University of Puerto Rico. The LSSU
paper entitled "Mobile Robotics Workcell
- Using Robotics to Lure Young Minds to Manufacturing
Engineering," received an honorable mention
and plaque.
Brad Bertels of Ironwood, a spring 2007 graduate
in manufacturing engineering technology, participated
in the Student Design Competition at the International
Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference
sponsored by ASME. The event was held October 9, 2006 in Ypsilanti, Mich. The
LSSU entry was one of five finalists to present at the
conference. LSSU received second place, which included
a $750 prize. Other competitors were: University of
Florida-Gainesville (first) University of Michigan (third),
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute and the University
of New Hampshire.
The constant sound of popping could be heard throughout the first-floor corridors of the Center for Applied Sciences and Technology throughout 2005. The sounds emanated from the Robotics and Automation Lab as students peformed life-cycle tests on various suction cups for PIAB USA, a firm based in Boston, Mass. which manufactures and sells robotics end-of-arm tooling.
The testing project was a cooperative effort between Devaprasad, director of the Robotics and Automation Laboratory; Jon Coullard, LSSU's mechanical laboratory engineer; and several engineering students. The president of PIAB contacted the Robotics Industries Association (RIA), North America's only trade association that focuses exclusively only robotics, and recommended that LSSU should be invited to present a feature article on the project work done by LSSU's School of Engineering and Technology. RIA, in turn, contacted Devaprasad to prepare an article.
Congratulations were given to Prof. Jim Devaprasad on the fine work done by the PIAB testing team and for his article appearing on the RIA website for the month of February 2006.
"It was interesting to write something for this type of publication," said Devaprasad. "Hopefully this will reach a larger audience and provide some recognition for us..."
Approximately 40 educational institutions belong to RIA and 250 member companies representing leading robot manufacturers, system integrators, end users and researchers. Robotics Online receives more than 1 million visits annually.
The Robotics and Automation Lab also served as a recent stop during a tour of LSSU by Michigan State Representative John Stewart. Devaprasad provided the Representative a primer on robotics by letting Stewart try his hand at moving the Staubli. The lab was one of several highlights for the Representative who returned to campus as the keynote speaker for the 2006 commencement exercises and in May as the guest speaker for the Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society (MITES) Region 16 conference and competition.
Senior Project Takes Second at ASME 2004 International Competition
Members of the Spring 2004 senior project team Superior Worcell Automation Technology (SWAT) presented their paper at the November 2004 ASME Internatonal Congress Student Design Competiton in San Diego, Calif. One of three teams to advance to the finals, SWAT garnered second place for the robotic automation of sand cast brake core manufacturing, developed for DANA Brake Parts Canada, based in Sudbury, Ontario.
LSSU Robotic project eyes first place at Boston competition, May 2003
Adept robot with Cognex vision system
Senior project team S3EC (Systems 3 Engineering Consultants) recently took first place at the Cognex On Campus competition for its application of the use of a Cognex vision system.
The team's senior project was developed for Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (AMT), an engineering firm that specializes in automated workcell design. Inspection for quality control is important to ensure product reliability. One of the company's workcells applies a clear adhesive onto automotive glass. AMT needs a way to verify that the adhesive has been properly applied. S3EC created a prototype workcell that demonstrated its solution.
A robot picks up a piece of automotive glass that has had adhesive applied to all three edges. It holds the glass over a yellow lamp and slowly moves the glass, illuminating the entire application of adhesive. A Cognex vision system sensor scans the edges as they are presented for any flaws or gaps to determine if the adhesive application was acceptable. The robot then places the glass into either a "good" or "reject" slot.
S3EC's submission to the Cognex On Campus Competition was one two selected finalists. Lake Superior State University sent the team's faculty advisor, Dr. David Baumann, and team representative, Diane Siemiet, to the competition, held on May 9, 2003 at Cognex Corporation's home office in Natick, Mass., just outside of Boston. LSSU edged out the competitor from California Polytechnic University of San Luis Obispo, Calif. with the complexity of its use of the vision system.
According to a Cognex vice president, S3EC's application of the vision system was just as difficult as any project his own company's engineers have ever had to tackle.
Each teammate received $100 in Cognex stock, a Land's End duffle and a certificate. LSSU received a Cognex In-Sight System, valued at approximately $8500, for the Robotics and Automation Lab. Team members included: Ray Arbic of Sault Ste. Marie; Michelle Deneau of Rapid River; Diane Siemiet of Rochester Hills; Craig Salvalaggio and Desmond Silva, both of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
