Modernization of the Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering Laboratories: Upgrading Educational CIM Cells Involving Students and Faculty

This paper reports the process of upgrade and enhancement of the Educational CIM Cell at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). The upgrade is part of the laboratory experiments in the Automated Manufacturing Systems Course at NKU. The goal of this paper is to increase students’ practical experience, upgrade the equipments in house, save cost, and reduce the technical dependency on an outside company. In this project Allen-Bradley SLC 100 PLC and Allen-Bradley SLC 150 will be upgraded with a new Allen-Bradley PLC and Panelview operator interface. Comprehensive effort are made to incorporate what has been learned in the MET program to design, manufacture a part, and use robotics and programmed interface for placement onto a conveyor. After the part is placed on the conveyor it will be transferred to a location where the part will be accepted or rejected. Personal computers will be interfaced for simulation, and to actual hardware for control and automation of typical manufacturing operations and industrial processes. This concept of an integrated laboratory system will allow expanded coverage of traditional controls topics and permit introduction of appropriately advanced control techniques including adaptive control for machining operations. This method of modernizing is shown to be more effective than modernizing by a turnkey upgrade of the laboratory Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) facilities.