On Wednesday, February 22, 2022, two seniors in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program, Alec Zierer and John Franklin participated in the online conference Automation and Beyond: Practical Solutions for Manufacturers sponsored by FuzeHub, an Albany based robotics company.
FuzeHub, in conjunction with the Center for Economic Growth in Albany and Buffalo Manufacturing Works, has provided the Mechanical Engineering Technology program with an advanced UR-5 (Universal Robot) robotic arm. The robotic arm is a state of the art Cobot (collaborative robot) that can be taught to understand the local environment and provide precision control. The robot is on loan until November 2022. We are hoping to obtain our own UR-5 for future projects.
The students have been teaching the UR-5 to perform a Jominy hardness test on the laboratory’s Vickers hardness tester. This test normally takes students five to six hours to perform due to the large number of readings needed to be done on each sample and the exact positioning of the sample for each reading. Work indicates the five to six hours will be reduced to under an hour with the aid of the UR-5. The students were challenged with using existing equipment so they have designed and manufactured fixtures to allow the robot to work with the Jominy samples and the Vickers hardness tester. This work is part of the senior’s capstone project for MECT 230, Advanced Automation.
The students’ progress has been such that they were able to successfully demonstrate their work at the online conference as one of the presenting teams. The students spoke with attendees (mostly from local manufacturing firms) about their experience in working with the UR-5 thus far. The students also were able to speak with members of FuzeHub, Center of Economic Growth and Buffalo Manufacturing Works.
All of the Mechanical Engineering Technology seniors will be demonstrating their robotics work for their capstone presentation at the end of the semester. Members of the HVCC community along with our corporate sponsors will be invited to attend.
Published: Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:05:59 +0000 by d.baxter1