August 9, 2001Contact: Andrew Careaga573-341-4328[email protected]
STUDENTS LEARN "REMOTE-CONTROL" MANUFACTURING
ROLLA, Mo. -- Students at the University of Missouri-Rolla this fall will learn how to run a manufacturing operation without ever setting foot in a factory. Instead, they'll control all aspects of the process -- from computer-aided design through computer-controlled machining and inspection -- entirely over the Internet.
UMR students who enroll in Dr. Can Saygin's Engineering Management 334 course, "Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems," will learn what Saygin envisions as the future of manufacturing: Internet-based management of all aspects of a factory process. This approach has never before been attempted on this scale in any college course, says Saygin, an assistant professor of engineering management at UMR and director of the school's Integrated Systems Facility.
"Some courses have taught computer-controlled machining and other pieces of the design and manufacturing process," Saygin says. "But we've added a new layer. We're trying to integrate the whole system with the 'see-the-big-picture' approach to teach design, planning, scheduling, control and other automated manufacturing systems issues."
The course involves "e-labs" both on campus and at remote sites for distance learners enrolled in the course. Through these e-labs -- accessed online from a student's PC -- teams of students will design products, create them, inspect them, and control the computers and machines that handle the processes all through their Internet connections. The course "classroom" for this work will be the Integrated Systems Facility site on the World Wide Web (http://www.umr.edu/~isf/).
In UMR's Integrated Systems Facility, computers control various "cells" that are part of the manufacturing process. One computer may control a robotic arm, for example, while another controls an automated inspection system.
Through the new course, which is offered to students in UMR's manufacturing engineering, engineering management and systems engineering degree programs, students will use the Internet to oversee control of all those computers.
While full-scale remote-control manufacturing isn't happening in the business world yet, Saygin sees it as the wave of the future. He points to the increased interest in "collaborative design," which allows engineers to work together on large projects by sharing software over the Internet.
Saygin envisions a time when manufacturing engineers will collaborate not only on product design, but also on product manufacturing. An engineer in one nation, for example, could manage the production process in another country halfway across the globe, he says.
"We'll be able to click a button and watch the manufacturing process from start to finish," Saygin says.
In addition to support from the UMR School of Engineering and the UMR engineering management department, Saygin's project is supported through funds from the state of Missouri. Additional funding has been provided by General Motors to develop the computer architecture for the project, and by the Halliburton Foundation.
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