Organic Material Testing Robot

A&L Canada Laboratories Inc.是一家位于安大略省伦敦的公司，专门从事土壤、植物组织、饲料 为农业生产者进行肥料、环境和水测试。A&L在伦敦已经运营了30年 多年来，在实验室雇用了近80名员工。凭借其卓越的测试和快速的声誉， 周转时间A&L已将其能力从每天1，500个样本扩展到每天5，000多个样本。满足 A&L几年前购买并改装了一款“现成”的机器人。不幸的是 机器人不能满足当前的需求，不可靠，速度慢。A&L与Fanshawe College合作， 应用科学与技术学院（AST）设计和建造一个工业机器人（原型）， 不仅能够处理他们目前的土壤测试量，而且能够容纳多达 20，000个样本/天。在第一阶段，AST的教师和学生将开发机器人概念 和配置选项，进行设计和模拟，以评估可行性、适用性和完整性。最后报告将 提供给合作伙伴，让他们在进入构建阶段之前考虑多个选项。 这个项目的结果是至关重要的A&L业务，没有这个机器人的发展，他们将被迫 将业务转移给美国合作伙伴，因为他们将无法满足当前的需求。通过参与 在这个项目中，Fanshawe的学生将提高他们对商业、技术和制造的理解 要求，并成为面向客户角色的原型开发过程的一部分。

A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. is a London, Ontario-based company specializing in soil, plant tissue, feed, fertilizer, environmental and water testing for agricultural producers. A&L has been operating in London for 30 years and employs almost 80 employees in the lab. Building on its reputation of excellence in testing and quick turn-around times A&L has expanded its capabilities from 1,500 samples/day to over 5,000/day. To meet the increase in demand A&L purchased and modified an 'off the shelf' robot several years ago. Unfortunately the robot cannot meet current demands, is unreliable, and slow. A&L is collaborating with Fanshawe College and the School of Applied Science and Technology (AST) to design and build an industrial robot (prototype) that is capable of processing not only their current volume of soil tests, but one that will be able to accommodate up to 20,000 samples/day. During this first phase, faculty and students from AST will develop the robotic concept and configuration options, design and simulate to assess feasibility, suitability, and integrity. A final report will be provided to the partner allowing them to consider multiple options before moving on to the build phase. Results of this project are critical to A&L operations, without the development of this robot, they will be forced to divert business to U.S. partners as they will be unable to meet current demand needs. Through participation in this project, Fanshawe students will improve their understanding of business, technical, and manufacturing requirements, and be a part of the prototype development process in a client-facing role.