The equipment acquired will be used to integrate existing laboratories and equipment into an instructional CIM laboratory system. Existing facilities contain most of the component parts of CIM systems, but are not yet capable of integrated operation. The robotics, machine tool, microprocessor, and automatic controls laboratories are all involved. A single-site, robot-based experimental system will be used as well as machine-tool and inspection workstations. The single-site system will allow many CIM experiments to share the same facility, an essential feature for educational use. Recent additions of workstation computers and building networking have made implementation of an educational CIM system attractive. The new equipment fills important gaps needed to make such a system a reality and includes measurement and actuation components, network adapters, and real-time computers.
