Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Undergraduate Academic Catalog 
    
2021-2022 Undergraduate Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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IE 3771 - Automation Technologies

2 lecture hours 2 lab hours 3 credits
Course Description
This course deals with automation technologies utilized in manufacturing, logistics, and service environments. It compares manual and automated systems for material handling, storage systems, inspection, and product identification. It includes hands-on lab instruction in topics such as robotic programming, as well as flexible manufacturing systems, and culminates with a project that uses microcontrollers, PLCs and a CoBot to sort work product and simulate an assembly line. (prereq: IE 1190 , PH 2021 , EE 201 ) (coreq: IE 426  or ME 323 )
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  • Understand and perform basic calculations regarding analog-to-digital conversion and digital-to-analog conversion
  • Distinguish important capabilities and limitations related to automation technologies, particularly with respect to robotics, identification, inspection, material handling, and storage systems
  • Select and justify a material transport system and a storage system for a given scenario in a manufacturing or service industry
  • Perform calculations related to production rate, production capacity, and storage capacity
  • Distinguish important capabilities and limitations of robotic processes
  • Program a robot using a software interface as well as online programming methods
  • Understand the inverse and forward kinematics of robots and related coordinate systems
  • Understand flexible automated production systems through case studies
  • Understand how image processing and visual systems are used in manufacturing processes

Prerequisites by Topic
  • General understanding of a variety of manufacturing processes (such as machining, sheet metal stamping and forming, and plastic injection molding)

Course Topics
  • Analog and digital Introduction: ADC, DAC, microcontroller employment, basics of arrays, vectors, matrices, & systems of linear equations
  • Introduction to logic control & PLCs: Boolean algebra, logic gates, truth tables, ladder logic for use in automation
  • Introduction to robotics: applications, coordinate system frames, manipulator classification, forward & inverse kinematics
  • Robotics & industrial control systems, robot programming, safety
  • Product lifecycle management (PLM), digital manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems, transfer lines
  • flexible manufacturing systems & transfer lines case studies
  • Image processing and visual systems
  • Course project: employment of microcontrollers, PLC, and a CoBot to sort work product (factory mockup)

Laboratory Topics
  • Analog/digital introduction via microcontrollers
  • PLCs & layout of factory (Sim)
  • Forward/inverse kinematics (SolidWorks Robot Sim)
  • RobotStudio Sim of ABB robot
  • Online programming of ABB robot & UR3 CoBots
  • Visual systems investigation

Coordinator
Dr. Yaileen Mendez-Vazquez



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