- Location
- Woodstock, CT
Thank you...they had to use a Scorbot ER-4u 5-axis robot (light industrial), a Siemens LOGO PLC, linear slide rail, and a host of materials handling tools (conveyers, feeders, etc.) and software to make an automated workcell to solve a "scenario" that they were given when the contest began (no prior knowledge of the task). A lot of wiring, coding, teaching the robot positions, programming the PLC, and interpreting what the actual problem at hand was. The time frame given was 6 hours, and I was told that some teams quit and walked out after an hour, sad but true. I made sure that the student team I sent was ready for this and they did not disappoint!Really cool, congrats! At the risk of making myself feel dumb: what was their entry / product / thing they competed with?
A very nice toy, but it would get more use in my (home) workshop than in my (work) lab. I'd have to do quite a bit of clearing to make room for it, but it would be worth itGood Morning,
A freight truck brought this new CNC milling machine, a Tormach 770M, to the back door of the lab. Two crates and 37 boxes of parts later, the main milling head is exposed and ready for placement on the stand. I'm bringing in professional millwrights to set up a trolley crane to do the move; the head is over 700 pounds so safety is the key. When completed, it will be 88 inches tall, 56 inches wide and 50 inches deep; a lot of floorspace! I will post photos when finished along with the on-the-fly fabrication of CAD to CAM part flow.
Regards,
Edd
It looks to me like you get to play with all the really cool toys.Good Morning,
A freight truck brought this new CNC milling machine, a Tormach 770M, to the back door of the lab. Two crates and 37 boxes of parts later, the main milling head is exposed and ready for placement on the stand. I'm bringing in professional millwrights to set up a trolley crane to do the move; the head is over 700 pounds so safety is the key. When completed, it will be 88 inches tall, 56 inches wide and 50 inches deep; a lot of floorspace! I will post photos when finished along with the on-the-fly fabrication of CAD to CAM part flow.
Regards,
Edd
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I understand the concern; RFI and EMI issues are "normal" things that I have to contend with. We have prioritize working-shop days as I have CO2 laser cutting/engraving systems, 2D Plasma cutting system and a whole host of workstation computers for design and simulation (LabVIEW, Fusion 360, MATLAB, MultiSim, etc..) which students have to time-share (Gold Teams/Blue Teams) to keep the theory and practical design in balance.A very nice toy, but it would get more use in my (home) workshop than in my (work) lab. I'd have to do quite a bit of clearing to make room for it, but it would be worth it
Something like that in the lab would stop most of the instruments from being usable...
I'm fortunate in that way to be able to serve my students. I won a $100K USD competitive grant in May 2022 to help to improve the technology that I immerse the kids into; adaptive control, machine learning, machine vision and so forth. I'm able to leverage many of the declassified technologies that, in a previous life, I was taking from the lab to warfighter use, and so it goes...It looks to me like you get to play with all the really cool toys.
Great job you did with the kids that won that competition mentioned a couple threads up too.
In our lab oil fumes, vibrations etc would also be an issue, and perhaps waste metal as well.I understand the concern; RFI and EMI issues are "normal" things that I have to contend with. We have prioritize working-shop days as I have CO2 laser cutting/engraving systems, 2D Plasma cutting system and a whole host of workstation computers for design and simulation (LabVIEW, Fusion 360, MATLAB, MultiSim, etc..) which students have to time-share (Gold Teams/Blue Teams) to keep the theory and practical design in balance.
As long as the door automatically releases on fire alarm you're good. Manual release violates Fire Code.Leaving the fire exit open has shown with increased metals results as well...
I'm really surprised to see that lifting point on the table. I wouldn't have thought the machine was designed to take loads in that direction.Good Afternoon,
My millwrights/riggers made it to the lab this morning and they got the heavy lifting done in a safe and professional manner. Next steps are to get the basic control systems talking to each other and validating the precision (accuracy coupled with repeatability) of each of the 4 axises of motion. Down the road (next week) is the assembly of oil coolant and pneumatic drives, automatic tool changer, and a host of other punch-list items. The final part is the assembly of the chip bins/trays, main housing, and sliding safety doors within the enclosure. Also, I was supposed to receive a custom-order 6-axis MotoMan robot today (~$78,000.00 USD), air
freighted from Japan, but the freight company missed the school receiving deadline (no staff after 2:30 PM). They were supposed to deliver no later than 11:30 AM and I waited with a pallet jack and hydraulic lift until 3:00 PM; this one is on them!
Regards,
Edd
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I was also, so I called the company and spoke to one of their engineering staff members prior to the riggers coming in, just in case...I'm really surprised to see that lifting point on the table. I wouldn't have thought the machine was designed to take loads in that direction.