Project: Human Robotic Workstation

Team Members: Jacqueline Burrows, Dustin Conley, and Steven Andrews

Instructor: Mr. Raymond James

With our MEC 299 course we have been given the opportunity to bring a whole new way of integrating human and robotic projects together. A company is currently outsourcing a kitting project and we have been given the task of designing and creating a workstation that can complete the knitting process in house using an APAS robot. The station can have a range from being fully automated to a human-robot collaboration.

While this has brought along many challenges in finding the optimal way to incorporate a fully automated station to integrating human placement, we have progressed in a timely matter to start our prototyping process. This project has brought the opportunity to work closely with a company to better understand what the future of industry may look like, as well as team building and communication.

Student: Johnathan Harper

Instructor: Mr. Raymond James

For the Spring 2021 Semester, I have been chosen to take part in the Greenville Tech’s Research in Advanced Manufacturing class This course is a collaborative effort between Clemson’s Thinker Program, and the Greenville Tech Mechatronics program.

My group has been given a BMW vehicle chassis skid to identify key failure points that can be monitored to increase preventative maintenance. With the collected data from our installed sensors, we hope to transmit the information to a server that will have an intuitive and easily accessible readout for someone like a maintenance tech or manager.

So far, my expectation for this class is to complete my group’s assigned task to the best of our ability. Through our skid project, we have been challenged to learn new techniques and adopt new technologies, but I know we are up for the challenge. I expect to continue to be pushed out of my normal comfort zone to see how well I adapt to the changing work environment.

The most valuable takeaway I have learned from my time in the Research in Advanced Mechatronics course is the value of teamwork. Electrical formulas and mechanical theories can all be taught in the classroom, but the ability to work effectively as a group must be earned by putting in the time. Overall, I am excited to be a part of this process and hope for nothing but the best.