6/9/07 — Steve Preston hopes the recent BattleBots competition will spark local student interest in learning more about a $500 billion emerging industry.
“We’ve developed an all-around program to give an understanding of the robotics industry,” said Preston, robotics instructor at the Precision Manufacturing Institute, an industrial training center in Meadville.
Robotics is expected to grow to a $500 billion industry, according to Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon has the largest robotics research organization in the world and is working to develop a robotics research corridor in western Pennsylvania.
The use of robotics is growing in northwestern Pennsylvania with at least 15 pieces of robotics equipment put in use in Crawford County and 40 in Erie County in the last two years, Preston said.
The equipment is being used for welding, manufacturing, painting, assembly and parts handling.
“The industry is just growing rapidly,” he said. “There are now two-dimensional and three-dimensional vision robots that can reach into a bin, pull a part out and do whatever you want it to do with the part.”
PMI has developed a fully accredited 2+2+2 program that goes in two-year increments in robotics technology and robotics maintenance that is readying for this fall. After each level, students can exit the program with a certificate, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree.
“It’s not just robots, but the applications used for each of the components of robots and robotic work systems — like a tool at the end of the robot arm, (robot) sensory control, motion control and (robot) programming,” Preston said.
“Once they have gone through the program they’ll be able to perform maintenance or develop and design work cells that use robots.”
Five students at the Crawford County Area Vocational-Technical School this spring took an introductory course in robotic applications.
He’s hoping to attract more students into robotics this fall given the success of the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association’s BattleBots IQ competition in May.
Designed to stimulate student interest in technical careers, there were 15 student teams that built robots to do battle against each other. While building the robots, students also learned math, science, engineering and manufacturing skills as they applied classroom theory to robot building.
Students from vo-tech schools in Crawford, Clarion, Venango or Mercer counties will begin the PMI robotics program their junior year of high school. They then can earn up to 15 credits to use toward an associate’s degree from Edinboro, Clarion or California universities of Pennsylvania.
The third two-year level involves course work at Edinboro, Clarion or California that results in an associate’s degree in manufacturing engineering technology from Edinboro, an associate’s in applied science in industrial technology from Clarion or an associate’s degree in technical studies from California.
LEARN MORE:
For more information on the Precision Manufacturing Institute’s new robotics technology and robotics maintenance programs, contact Steve Preston at PMI at 333-2415, ext. 133, or toll-free at (877) 701-9204.
Local News
New robotics training program set for PMI
- Local News
-
-
Ol' man winter's last gasp? FROST warning tonight!
It’s going to be frosty overnight in northwest Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio.
-
Teen jailed in late Tuesday Meadville assault
Meadville resident Austin Blain Hutchinson, 18, has been confined in Crawford County jail on charges of simple assault stemming from incident on North Street near the State Street intersection late Tuesday night. Hutchinson was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Michael Rossi acting on behalf of Magisterial District Judge William Chisholm.
-
Tamarack Lake water level reduced after ‘seepage’ discovered at dam
People living near Tamarack Lake, as well as outdoors enthusiasts who enjoy fishing and hunting there, are wondering when Tamarack Lake will be returned to a full body of water. The answer apparently is “no time soon,” according to local officials.
-
Lawsuits filed by woman who was hit by truck
A pedestrian struck by a pickup truck while she was crossing Water Street at the Chestnut Street intersection two years ago has filed a pair of lawsuits in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.
-
Market Square thieves make off with cash, tills
Police are looking for leads and warning business owners to not leave cash on the premises when locking up at night following a series of recent break-ins in Meadville’s downtown business district.
-
Area law enforcers take part in annual Police Memorial
June 29, 2011: Working as part of a fugitive task force, Berks County Deputy Sheriff Kyle D. Pagerly was serving a warrant in Albany Township when he was shot and killed by a suspect who opened fire with an AK-47.
-
Your votes can help Hospice of Crawford County
Thanks to the effort of a local retailer, you have an opportunity to help Hospice of Crawford County win a substantial gift.
-
Conneaut Lake Park eager to welcome 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park has been there for 120 years — and Don Weyel and his live pony rides have seen 60 of them.
-
Do Meadville's brick streets please or pain drivers?
Are the 10 miles of bricked streets remaining within Meadville’s city limits an aesthetic frill that no longer has a place on the bottom line of the city’s severely-strained budget or an integral component of the city worth maintaining for the benefit of both present and future residents?
-
Allegheny College grads enter uncertain job market
Much has been said over the past few years about the United States’ troublesome job market. But thoughts of a struggling economy seemed far from the minds of those attending Allegheny College’s 2012 graduation on Saturday afternoon.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Ol' man winter's last gasp? FROST warning tonight!
Coffee May Be Key to Living Longer
Coffee May Be Key to Living Longer
Police to Groom of Slain Bride: Turn Yourself In
Defense Rests Without Calling Edwards, Mistress
Laurie Fine: My Life Has Been Destroyed
FTC: Skechers Deceived Consumers With Shoe Ads
FBI Confirms Leak Probe on Al-Qaida Plot
Romney Calls Obama a 'Disappointment'
Students in Tornado-hit Community Await Lady A
On Zuckerberg's Mind: People, Not Shareholders
Honda Unveils New Robotics-powered Scooter
NJ Gov., Mayor Channel Seinfeld in Video Parody
Blood Drive for Woman With Flesh-Eating Disease
AG Race Tops Oregon Primary Interest
Obama Welcomes Beckham, Galaxy to White House
Raw Video: Mladic's Genocide Trial Under Way
Court Records Detail Zimmerman Injuries
Local Community Prepares for G8 Summit
New Guidelines for US Nuclear Plants
The President's Hideaway Welcomes World Leaders
