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During the 3rd and final year of the Mechanical Engineering Technology - Robotics and Automation program there is a major group project to design and build an automated manufacturing system. Our group decided to build a machine that would produce pin back buttons. |
The Product
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This project consisted of three phases beginning in January of 2008, the phases are Proposal, Design, and Build. During the proposal phase of the project the class is split into groups of 4 or 5 and we have to come up with a product and design a system that will be able to produce this product on it's own. At the end of the proposal phase each group must present their ideas to the class, where we would vote for the three best to be built. The class is then split into three groups or 13-15 for the design and build phases. The proposal phase lasts for 6 weeks. |
Designs at end of Proposal Phase |
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During the design phase the groups must take the concepts provided by the original group of 4 or 5 students that proposed the idea and design the system to be built in the next phase. Detailed drawings of all components must be produced, electrical and pneumatic schematics, and all hardware requirements must be determine and submitted to the instructor. Each team must also prepare a budget for components that need to be purchased, and have this approved by the instructor. The design phase lasts for 3 months. |
Designs at the end of Design Phase
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The final phase is the build phase, this is where each team must procure materials and assemble the machine they have designed. During this phase many design changes occur as the hardware and material we have available to us is not always what was planned for in the design phase. As such our designs have to be adaptable to change and we need be able to react to change quickly. This phase provides us with many challenges as well as opportunities to learn as we machine parts, assemble components, create circuit boards, wire PLCs, and configure various pieces of hardware to work and communicate with each other. |
Product at end of Build Phase
This particular machine was also selected by the college to be taken on trade shows and special care had to be taken to ensure it was small and portable as well as be able to run off of 110V power.