Technology in Education

The rapid and constant pace of change in technology is creating both opportunities and challenges for schools.
The opportunities include greater access to rich, multimedia content, the increasing use of online coursetaking to offer classes not otherwise available, the widespread availability of mobile computing devices that can access the Internet, the expanding role of social networking tools for learning and professional development, and the growing interest in the power of digital games for more personalized learning.
At the same time, the pace of change creates significant challenges for schools. To begin with, schools are forever playing technological catch up as digital innovations emerge that require upgrading schools’ technological infrastructure and building new professional development programs. Some schools have been adept at keeping up with those changes, while many others are falling far behind, creating a digital divide based largely on the quality of educational technology, rather than just simple access to the Internet.
The rapid evolution of educational technologies also makes it increasingly challenging to determine what works best. Longitudinal research that takes years to do risks being irrelevant by the time it is completed because of shifts in the technological landscape. The iPad, for instance, became popular in schools soon after it was released and well before any research could be conducted about its educational effectiveness.
Following is a look at some of the hottest issues and trends in educational technology and how they are creating opportunities and challenges for K-12 schools.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS VIDEO!

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INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS

Credit to : http://www.learnaboutrobots.com/industrial.htm Modern industrial robots are true marvels of engineering. A robot the size of a person can easily carry a load over one hundred pounds and move it very quickly with a repeatability of +/-0.006 inches. Furthermore these robots can do that 24 hours a day for years on end with no failures whatsoever. Though they are reprogrammable, in many applications (particularly those in the auto industry) they are programmed once and then repeat that exact same task for years. A six-axis robot like the yellow one below costs about $60,000. What I find interesting is that deploying the robot costs another $200,000. Thus, the cost of the robot itself is just a fraction of the cost of the total system. The tools the robot uses combined with the cost of programming the robot form the major percentage of the cost. That's why robots in the auto industry are rarely reprogrammed. If they are going to go to the expense of deploying a robot for another task, then they may as well use a new robot.
	This is pretty much the typical machine people think of when they think of industrial robots. Fanuc makes this particular robot. Fanuc is the largest maker of these type of robots in the world and they are almost always yellow. This robot has six independent joints, also called six degrees of freedom. The reason for this is that arbitrarily placing a solid body in space requires six parameters; three to specify the location (x, y, z for example) and three to specify the orientation (roll, yaw, pitch for example). If you look closely you will see two cylindrical pistons on the side of the robot. These cylinders contain "anti-gravity" springs that are a big part of the reason robots like these can carry such heavy loads. These springs counter-balance against gravity similar to the way the springs on the garage door make it much easier for a person to lift. You will see robots like these welding, painting and handling materials.
The robot shown at right  is made by an American company, Adept Technology. Adept is America's largest robot company and the world's leading producer of SCARA robots. This is actually the most common industrial robot. SCARA stands for Selective Compliance Articulated (though some folks use Assembly here) Robot Arm. The robot has three joints in the horizontal plane that give it x-y positioning and orientation parallel to  the plane. There is one linear joint that supplies the z positioning. This is the typical "pick and place" robot. When combined with a vision system it can move product from conveyor belt to package at a very high rate of speed (think "Lucy and the candies" but way faster). The robot's joint structure allows it to be compliant (or soft) to forces in the horizontal plane. This is important for "peg in hole" type applications where the robot will actually flex to make up for inaccuracies and allow very tight part fits.
	The machine at left can be called a Cartesian robot, though calling this machine a robot is really stretching the definition of a robot. It is Cartesian because it allows x-y-z positioning. Three linear joints provide the three axes of motion and define the x, y and z planes. This robot is suited for pick and place applications where either there are no orientation requirements or the parts can be pre-oriented before the robot picks them up (such as surface mounted circuit board assembly)  Thanks for reading this entry!!

HOW INDUCTION MOTOR WORKS??

Basic learning of induction motor for additional knowledge.

Induction motors in practice

What controls the speed of an AC motor?

In synchronous AC motors, the rotor turns at exactly the same speed as the rotating magnetic field; in an induction motor, the rotor always turns at a lower speed than the field, making it an example of what's called an asynchronous AC motor. The theoretical speed of the rotor in an induction motor depends on the frequency of the AC supply and the number of coils that make up the stator and, with no load on the motor, comes close to the speed of the rotating magnetic field. In practice, the load on the motor (whatever it's driving) also plays a part—tending to slow the rotor down. The greater the load, the greater the "slip" between the speed of the rotating magnetic field and the actual speed of the rotor. To control the speed of an AC motor (make it go faster or slower), you have to increase or decrease the frequency of the AC supply using what's called a variable-frequency drive. So when you adjust the speed of something like a factory machine, powered by an AC induction motor, you're really controlling a circuit that's turning the frequency of the current that drives the motor either up or down.

What's the "phase" of an AC motor?

We don't necessarily have to drive the rotor with four coils (two opposing pairs), as illustrated here. It's possible to build induction motors with all kinds of other arrangements of coils. The more coils you have, the more smoothly the motor will run. The number of separate electric currents energizing the coils independently, out of step, is known as the phase of the motor, so the design shown above is a two-phase motor (with two currents energizing four coils that operate out of step in two pairs). In a three-phase motor, we could have three coils arranged around the stator in a triangle, six evenly spaced coils (three pairs), or even 12 coils (three sets of four coils), with either one, two, or four coils switched on and off together by three separate, out-of-phase currents.

Advantages and disadvantages of induction motors

Advantages

The biggest advantage of AC induction motors is their sheer simplicity. They have only one moving part, the rotor, which makes them low-cost, quiet, long-lasting, and relatively trouble free. DC motors, by contrast, have a commutator and carbon brushes that wear out and need replacing from time to time. The friction between the brushes and the commutator also makes DC motors relatively noisy (and sometimes even quite smelly).

Disadvantages

Since the speed of an induction motor depends on the frequency of the alternating current that drives it, it turns at a constant speed unless you use a variable-frequency drive; the speed of DC motors is much easier to control simply by turning the supply voltage up or down. Though relatively simple, induction motors can be fairly heavy and bulky because of their coil windings. Unlike DC motors, they can't be driven from batteries or any other source of DC power (solar panels, for example) without using an inverter (a device that turns DC into AC). That's because they need a changing magnetic field to turn the rotor.
Artwork: Electric motors are extremely efficient, typically converting about 85 percent of the incoming electrical energy into useful, outgoing mechanical work. Even so, there is still quite a bit of energy wasted as heat inside the windings—which is why motors can get extremely hot. Most industrial-strength AC motors have built-in cooling systems. There's a fan inside the case attached to the rotor shaft (at the opposite end of the axle that's driving whatever machine the motor is attached to), shown here in red. The fan sucks air into the motor, blowing it around the outside of the case past the heat ventilating fins. If you've ever wondered why electric motors have those ridges on the outside (as you can see in the top photo on this page), that's the reason: they're cooling the motor down.

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ACHIEVEMENT IN A YEAR

Muadzam Shah Polytechnic Wins PIPPo 2015

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- The Muadzam Shah Polytechnic in Pahang today won the Polytechnic Proton Innovation Competition (PIPPo) 2015, which was held in conjunction with the Higher Education Week (HEWM) here.

A group of students received RM19,000 prize money and a trophy for redesigning a Proton car called Proton Telson.

The Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Polytechnic, Kedah and Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Polytechnic, Shah Alam won second and third prize respectively for designing Saga Dyna and Proton Taring.

The prizes were presented by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.

Earlier, in her closing remarks, Mary said the competition was aimed at highlighting the creativity, innovation and technical skill of the students and lecturers in automotive engineering design.

-- BERNAMA

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WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION?

Industrial automation is the use of control systems, such as computers or robots, and information technologies for handling different processes and machineries in an industry to replace a human being. It is the second step beyond mechanization in the scope of industrialization.

Increase Quality and Flexibility in Your Manufacturing Process

Earlier the purpose of automation was to increase productivity (since automated systems can work 24 hours a day), and to reduce the cost associated with human operators (i.e. wages & benefits). However, today, the focus of automation has shifted to increasing quality and flexibility in a manufacturing process. In the automobile industry, the installation of pistons into the engine used to be performed manually with an error rate of 1-1.5%. Presently, this task is performed using automated machinery with an error rate of 0.00001%.

Advantages of Industrial Automation

Lower operating cost: Industrial automation eliminates healthcare costs and paid leave and holidays associated with a human operator. Further, industrial automation does not require other employee benefits such as bonuses, pension coverage etc. Above all, although it is associated with a high initial cost it saves the monthly wages of the workers which leads to substantial cost savings for the company. The maintenance cost associated with machinery used for industrial automation is less because it does not often fail. If it fails, only computer and maintenance engineers are required to repair it.

• High productivity

  Although many companies hire hundreds of production workers for a up to three shifts to run the plant for the maximum number of hours, the plant still needs to be closed for maintenance and holidays. Industrial automation fulfills the aim of the company by allowing the company to run a manufacturing plant for 24 hours in a day 7 days in a week and 365 days a year. This leads to a significant improvement in the productivity of the company.

• High Quality

  Automation alleviates the error associated with a human being. Further, unlike human beings, robots do not involve any fatigue, which results in products with uniform quality manufactured at different times.

• High flexibility

  Adding a new task in the assembly line requires training with a human operator, however, robots can be programmed to do any task. This makes the manufacturing process more flexible.

• High Information Accuracy

  Adding automated data collection, can allow you to collect key production information, improve data accuracy, and reduce your data collection costs.  This provides you with the facts to make the right decisions when it comes to reducing waste and improving your processes.

• High safety

  Industrial automation can make the production line safe for the employees by deploying robots to handle hazardous conditions.

Disadvantages of Industrial Automation

• High Initial cost

  The initial investment associated with the making the switch from a human production line to an automatic production line is very high. Also, substantial costs are involved in training employees to handle this new sophisticated equipment.

Conclusion

Industrial automation has recently found more and more acceptance from various industries because of its huge benefits, such as, increased productivity, quality and safety at low costs.


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credit for http://www.surecontrols.com/what-is-industrial-automation/

STRUKTUR ROBOT

A. Robot industri pada umumnya terdiri dari :

1. Sebuah bangunan besar dan kukuh dengan beberapa lengan yang  terkeluar 

2. Lengannya terdiri dari : penyepit, sensor, peralatan pada hujung lengan dan dapat digerakkan dengan bebas. Sistem robot memiliki  tiga komponen dasar, iaitu : Manipulate, Controller, dan Force

 

1.    Manipulate

                        Lengan yang memberikan gerakan robot untuk memutar, melipat, menjangkau objek. Gerakan ini di sebut dengan darjah kebebasan robot atau jumlah sumbu yang ada pada robot. manipulator terdiri dari beberapa segmen dan sambungan (joint).

 

2.Controller

Suatu peralatan yang bertugas sebagai pengendali dari gerakan robot. Controller ini membentuk sistem kawalan yang akan menentukan input dan output suatu robot. 

3. Force

Power supply adalah sebuah unit yang menyediakan tenaga pada controller dan manipulator sehingga dapat bekerja. Power supply dalam suatu sistem robot dibagi menjadi dua bahagian, iaitu bahagian untuk controller dan bahagian untuk manipulator. Bahagian controller  menggunakan elektrik sedangkan bahagian manipulator menggunakan elektrik, pneumatik, hidraulik ataupun ketiga tiganya. Gambar 5a, 5b dan 5c memberikan keterangan tentang power supply.

4. End Effector

Untuk memenuhi keperluan dari tugas robot atau si pemakai.

B. Geometri Robot dan Istilah – istilahnya

Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) adalah setiap titik sumbu gerakan mekanik pada robot, tidak terkira untuk End Effector.

Degrees Of Movement (DOM) adalah kebebasan / kemampuan untuk melakukan sebauh gerakan.

Sebagai contoh, robot dengan 6 pergerakan bebas :

1. Base Rotation (dudukan untuk berputar)

2. Shoulder Flex (lengan atas )

3. Elbow Flex (lengan bawah)

4. Wrist Pitch (pergelangan angguk)

5. Wrist Yaw (pergelangan sisi)

6. Wrist Roll (pergelangan putar) 

C. Control system

Ø  Jenis Robot Control

Ada beberapa jenis pengatur gerakan pada robot, diantaranya :

1. Limite Sequence Robot

Ciri – ciri : - Paling sederhana

- Paling murah

- umumnya menggunakan driver pneumatic

- Operasinya Pick & Place

2. Point to Point

Ciri - ciri : - Lebih canggih dari Limite Sequence Robot

- Menyimpan titik-titik dari langkah robot

- Menggunakan driver hydraulic

- Motor elektronik

3. Countouring

Ciri – ciri : - Peningkatan Point to Point

- Speed & Countour

- Menggunakan driver hydraulic

4. Line Tracker

Ciri – ciri : - Untuk benda bergerak

- Senior dan program

- Menggunakan driver hydraulic

5. Intelligent Robot

Ciri – ciri : - Dapat bereaksi dengan lingkungan

- Dapat mengambil keputusan

- Advance I/O

- Advance sensor

Ø  Bahagian – Bahagian pada control robot

control pada robot dapat dikelompokan dari level rendah, menengah dan tinggi. Secara detail adalah sebagai berikut :

• Low Technology Controllers

Mungkin dapat diprogram untuk praktis atau tidak praktis. Tidak ada internal memory amp.

• Medium Technology Controllers

Mempunyai 2 sampai 4 sumbu bergerak dan memiliki mikroprosesor serta memori (terbatas). Tetapi I/O-nya terbatas, delay setiap gerakan serta dapat diprogram jika kerja telah lengkap.

• High Technology Controllers

Memiliki memori yang besar serta punya mikroprosesor dan co-mikroprosesor. Bermacam-macam I/O, re-program dalam waktu singkat. Mempunyai sampai dengan 9 axis. Dalam kontrolernya ada 5 bagian penting, yaitu Power Supply, Interface, Axis Drive Board, Option Boards dan Mikroprosesor.

Ø  Sensor

Sensor pada robot industri ada dua kategori, yaitu :

• Internal Sensor

Digunakan untuk mengawall posisi, kecermatan dan lain-lain. Contohnya adalah potensiometer, optical encoder.

• External Sensor

Digunakan untuk mengontrol dan mengkoordinasi robot dengan environment. Contohnya adalah switch sentuh, infra merah.

Menurut jenis dan fungsinya dapat dilihat beberapa tipe sensor di bawah ini :

• sensor

Dapat digunakan untuk mengesan.. Ada dua jenis iaitu Touch Sensor dan Stress / Force Sensor.

• Proximity Sensor

Jika jarak antara objek dan sensor dekat. Misalnya untk mengetahui jarak dari objek.

• Optical Sensor

Untuk mengetahui ada atau tidaknya suatu barang.

• Vision Sensor

Untuk mendefinisikan benda, alignment dan inspection.

• Voice Sensor

Untuk mengenali jenis benda dan melakukan arahan yang diberi.

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