Undergradaute Research Assistant

Project Statement: 

Explore the pros and cons of Industry 4.0 technology by designing, coding, and manufacturing a smart factory.   

Solution: 

The team I joined had the initial concept of constructing a 3D printing smart factory that would take a 3D printed object through a conveyor belt system that would be sorted into sections based on height using laser sensor technology. This fatcory would be controlled by PLC programming, specifcally using RSLogix 5000 and Connected Components Workbench. 

When I undertook the project as the main assistant, I implented the code and system to transport the 3D printed object from the chosen printer onto the conveyor belt system as well as the movement of all robotic arms.

Outcome:

• Presented research and our smart factory in multiple conferences such as the CSUF SUReA showcase from 2023-2025, and the NCCUR conference in 2024.

• Successful implentation of robotic arms in the smart factory system, to be carried on and improved by future students. 

Duties:

• Learning and implenting PLC programming for robotic arm functions such as transport from the 3D printer and sorting objects. 

• Wiring and quality assurance of smart factory setup. 

• Scientific research of published Industry 4.0, smart factory, manufacturing engineering , and automation research to gather and present what has been benefitial or detrimental to Industry 4.0, how it relates to findings found with our smart factory, and how industries utilizing this technology should move forward in the future. 

Thought Process:

• Transportating 3D printed objects directly from the printer onto a conveyor belt or any factory area proved difficult mostly due to syncing the timing of the printer, that is an outside company such as Bambu Printer that is not known to easily work with automated systems, with our smart factory. Other factors the dimensions of the printer, the robotic arm movements within a printer, and having enough force to take it off the printer bed without damage. My solution that is implented now is having laser sensors detect the particular bed height that the printer lowers to when a printing job is complete, and from that point having a robotic arm slowly manuever inside. This method has worked successfully on items that aren't heavily attached to the bed and/or items we deemed "medium" to "large" size. While there is room to improve, this pushed the research forward for future students. 

• Sorting objects with laser sensors and robotic arms involved more emphasis on coding and testing than the printer transportation, for we catergorized objects by its height which we deemed "small", "medium", and "large" based on what measurements are recorded by the laser sensors. We also had to ensure secure placement on a moving conveyor belt system and to its final destination based on its size.