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| This robotic arm is part of the assembly line. Mechatronics is a field that blends electronics, mechanical engineering and several other disciplines, including robotics. |
Last week a new mechatronics assembly line—a small-scale version of actual processes used in automated industrial production facilities—was installed on the college’s East Campus. The $150,000 seven-station learning system was paid for through a U.S. Department of Labor grant known as RAMP: UP (Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnership: Unleashing Potential).
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| SouthArk faculty member Dr. Ramesh Singh discusses components of the college’s new mechatronics learning system, a small-scale assembly line that will help industrial technology students learn to program and trouble shoot for product manufacturing industries. |
The equipment—which is something like a muscular version of an old-timey Erector Set—will be used in the college’s industrial technology: mechatronics program. It is designed to instruct students the operation, troubleshooting and programming of automated systems.
The assembly line actually puts together component pieces to create a working control valve, but Singh said that the idea is to teach concepts that are scalable and can be used in the manufacture of any product in an automated system. The line begins with blocks that are either metal or acrylic, representing different product variations. Through a blend of different processes, the blocks move through the seven stations, each of which has a different task on the line, including quality checks, assembly, torqueing and storage.
As in a real industrial setting, failures along the line will result in product faults. Students must discover the origin of these problems and solve them, Singh said.
“If one thing stops working, the whole thing stops,” he said.
Ultimately the idea is to train students for a manufacturing world that increasingly is more automated, Singh said.
“These days 20 to 25 people may operate a whole plant. The only way they can do that is through automation,” Singh said.
For more information about industrial technology: mechatronics program at SouthArk, contact Angela Lopez at alopez@southark.edu<mailto:alopez@southark.edu>. South Arkansas Community College’s state-defined service area is all of Union, Bradley, Chicot and Ashley Counties.
Valve
This valve is what is produced by the assembly line. While it is a working valve, it is intended to be representative of any product manufactured in automated industrial settings.
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