MAE 464 (Manufacturing Automation)

MAE 464: Manufacturing Automation

A deep dive into factory automation

MAE 464 was a comprehensive exploration of signal processing, computer vision, pneumatics, programable logic controllers. object oriented simulation, robotic trajectories, DC motor selection, part indexing and an introduction to machine learning.

This was one of my favorite courses as it covered so much content in a way that I truly learned valuable skills.

Programming PLC ladder logic was an in person timed portion of the class final exam. The task was to have a conveyor belt that moves in one direction, a switch has the ability to reverse directions with another switch having the ability to pause the system for 5 seconds, followed by a reversal of direction.

I had 50 minutes to program this system.

Part of the class midterm exam was to build a pneumatic system. All students were given a different prompt. My task was to have a series operation that started and stopped on a particular piston, controlled by a latch logical operator.

For the written portion of the final exam there was a question that had us convert physical parameters of a robot into DH parameters, which were then used to determine end effector location and torque on each joint.

Once the parameters were properly formatted the next task was to generate a trajectory using hermit interpolation so the robot would slow to a stop following each motion.

Another midterm exam problem was to convert a pneumatic system into PLC. This system has a cascade of extensions and retractions that are interrupted by a pause every few cycles. During this pause a light flashes.

All of these conversions needed to be made in ladder logic. My solution can be viewed at https://app.plcsimulator.online/Qj55wAX35nYxNgd0EgBV

Lastly, I was given a project to redesign a lipstick tube so it would be compatible with a vibrational feeder bowl, then to design the VBF.

Shown here are the changes I made to the design and what I came up with for the VBF.