How do Batman, a military tank and two, 2-liter soda bottles help students learn? Well at Ranken Technical College, these three elements combine to introduce third and fourth semester Electrical Automation Tech (EAT) students, to the high tech world of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and Human Machine Interfaces (HMI).
Eighteen EAT teams (two students on a team) compete by using this technology to see which team can maneuver a Batman action figure (seated on a tank) through a figure eight course. The course is outlined by two, 2-liter soda bottles. All runs are against the clock. This competition allows the students to integrate hardware, such as photo-eyes, PLC and software with the use of computers and touch screen HMI.
One of the team members has to maneuver the tank (via remote control) through the course. The PLC is recording the path the tank takes during this run. The tank is sent out a second time, in autonomous mode, to see if the program is operable. Each team’s time is recorded during the second run and the team with the fastest time is the winner.
Instructor Sal Francis comments, “In the real world, nothing works perfectly during initial testing and integration of a project. There are always problems. The main purpose of the competition is to develop each student’s trouble-shooting skills.” Francis continues, “This competition allows the students to reinforce their understanding of touch screen HMI, PLC integration and the physical connections to the input/output hardware.”
