DENSO robotics grant
JOHNSON CITY (April 25, 2018) – A new robotics lab at East Tennessee State University is coming to life thanks to a grant awarded by global automotive manufacturer DENSO.
The Department of Engineering, Engineering Technology and Surveying recently upgraded its robots, installed two new ones and added 15 3D printers to simulate a small-scale manufacturing facility in Wilson Wallis Hall where students take introductory and advanced courses in automation robotics.
“It’s really a great hands-on experience and adds knowledge for entering the workspace, which gets more and more automated all the time,” said David Zollinger, an engineering technology lecturer at ETSU.
To address increasing demand for the robotics courses, engineering technology faculty submitted a grant proposal to DENSO, which operates plants in Maryville, Athens and Jackson, Tennessee. The automotive component manufacturer approved the request and ETSU’s College of Business and Technology matched the funds contributed by DENSO. The new robots and 3D printers, paired with existing equipment donated by DENSO, transformed a classroom into a robotics lab.
“The new equipment allows us to get a lot more students through our robotics class, which is allowing us to offer the advanced class more often and we can have smaller groups on each type of equipment,” Zollinger said.
New 3D printers in the lab allow students to build cost-effective prototypes. Using a software program, students can design a model of an item and then covert the file to a format the 3D printer understands. Zollinger has printed several types of attachments for the robotic arms. Students program the robots to use the attachments in various ways, such as to lift and carry metal cylinder-shaped blocks back and forth in one fluid motion.
“In theory it’s easy, in practice it’s not,” said Ben Johnson, a senior electrical engineering technology major from Nashville. “I thoroughly enjoy working on the robots with my teams and by working hands-on with the DENSO robots it gives us a taste of what we will be using tool-wise in the field. It’s a good step for wherever you want to go after you graduate.”
The robotics lab is preparing students to enter an automated workforce. They learn how to calibrate the robots, communicate between sensors, the inner-workings of pneumatics and electronics, as well as maintenance tasks. Zollinger also helps students understand the limitations and capabilities of robotic equipment in industry - when it’s best to automate a task, and when it is not.
“Some things humans are still better at, such as critical thinking. When it involves tasks that are ergonomically bad for people to do repetitively over time, a machine can do it better,” Zollinger said.
To learn more about ETSU’s Engineering Technology degree programs, visit www.etsu.edu/cbat/applieddesign/.