C.C. Reader
By William J. Neil
Can you remember the days of the
not-so-distant past when the ideas of
men walking on the moon, doctors
routinely performing open-heart surgery
and coronary bypass operations, engin
eers constructing nuclear power plants
and weapons, and automated mechan
ized robots skillfully performing the
tasks of assembly line workers
were only thought to be possible in
science-fiction books, movies, and tele
vision programs?
Even if you are not old enough to
recall those bygone days which make
today's technology appear that much
brighter by comparison, you are un
doubtedly aware that the first three of
the above four circumstances have be
come realities and are now commonplace
occurrences in contemporary times.
And thanks to the efforts like those
of a dedicated Capitol Campus student,
the last one is also about to become a
reality.
Dilip Patel, a senior Mechanical De
sign Engineering Technology major
(MDET), has become increasingly inter
ested in the study of robotics. He has
just completed a five-week repair pro
ject on a "toy" robot, and ultimately
plans to design and build his own model
industrial robot from scratch as an
independent study project next term.
~~ .
... <`:
Senior MDET Major To Design, Build Robot
The recently completed "fix-it" job
required Dilip to repair the drive mech
anism in the robot's arms from the
inside. plus some additional "tune up"
work to redesign the internal system
and make it more efficient.
The robot (which, by the way, is
nameless and therefore shall remain so
throughout this article( was donated to
the school by Mr. Bob Raffensberger Jr.
of York, a friend of Dr. Haller's (a
Capitol Campus engineering instructor).
Although Dilip regards this mechanical
guinea pig as a "toy"—at 31 inches tall
and 235 pounds, it is a mighty hefty
toy--it is particularly dexterous consid
ering its structure and bulk. The auto
matically operated robot, which is
housed in the Engineering Laboratory,
moves forward or backward on tracks
like those found on an army tank. Its two
telescope-type arms can be extended and
also maneuvered up or down. The arms
can lift seven pounds apiece, and are
replete with two "fingers" (or clippers)
which can grasp objects. The robot's
head is capable of moving left and
right--but cannot rotate in a complete
circle, no matter what you may have
seen on the "Saturday Morning Cartoon
Colorama"--and its eyes blink from time
to time.
But what makes Dilip think he is
qualified to tackle the monumental task
of building a robot from the ground up?
After all, he has only performed minor
surgery on a patient which was the doing
of another man; the task at hand
atv,
DILIP PATEL AND FRIEND
Thursday, March 4, 1982
Photo By Timothy J. Moersh
requires him to become a junior Dr.
Frankenstein, building a mechanical
creature from nothing but a bag of bolts
and some metallic odds and ends.
"The work that I have done on the
toy robot has given me some much
needed background," Dilip explains,
"and the techniques behind it (repair
work) provide an excellent application of
the ideas of engineering. Sure, this
model is amusing, but its workings are
no different than those found in the
larger models."
The robot on the drawing board for
next term is a model of an industrial
robot. That is, one which can be pro
grammed by a microprocessor to auto
matically perform various types of
practical jobs. "The robot I am building
will be small (four feet tall, an arm
length of five feet, and weight of 200-250
pounds)," noted Mr. Patel. "It is only a
`demonstration' model, because to make
an actual one would be much too costly."
As it is now, Dilip and Prof. Schiller are
partly funding the project themselves,
because the Engineering Department
simply doesn't have the money to sup
port the entire undertaking, which will
cost in the range of $l-2 thousand.
Besides Dilip, there are other stu
dents at Capitol Campus who are helping
to spur the interest in robotics. Salva
tore Sebastiani, another senior MDET
major, is currently working on a re
search paper dealing with industrial
robots and over the summer he will
assist Dilip in finishing his project. A
capitol Campus graduate student, Raj
Varma, is writing his master's thesis
(Business Administration) about indus
trial robots. Two other Electrical Design
Engineering Technology (EDET) majors
are also planning to construct parts of
robots. They are Paul Collman and Jim
Buckey.
Despite the almost invisible presence
of robots in industry today, Dilip expects
a proliferation of the beasts in the
future. "Robotics has a very bright
future in the United States as well as
Grad Students
Protest In D.C.
by Kathy Erwood
Graduate Student Union
"Books Not Bombs" and "2 4 6 8, we
want to graduate!"
These were two of the chants heard
in Washington, D.C. on March 1, 1982.
Approximately 5,000 college students
participated in National Student Action
Day and among them were three Capitol
Campus graduate students: Margaret
Morgan, Sam Pisamo, and Kathy Er
wood. The purpose of this day was to
lobby members of Congress on the issue
of student financial aid cutbacks and
especially the elimination of graduate
students from the guaranteed student
loan program.
The Capitol Campus students were
able to attend two small meetings with
the legislative aides to Allen Ertel and
Bill Goodling and also a large gathering
of Pennsylvania students who met with
Senator Arlen Spector and the staff aide
to Senator John Heinz.
It appears that many Democrats and
Republican Congresspeople are not
pleased with their proposed financial aid
cutbacks and have notified President
Reagan about this issue. On the other
overseas. At present, Japan is using
more robots for production than is the
U.S. We should eventually surpass
Japan, and create a cheap labor force,"
noted the mechanical engineer.
The robots can be used for many
different kinds of jobs, not only tighten
ing screws on an assembly line or others
that one usually thinks of when he
visualizes robots at work. For example,
Dilip anticipates the day when robots
will be used to "do all the dirty work and
other tedious jobs," such as replacing
supermarket personnel, painters, weld
ers, and of course, assembly line work
ers. The economy will benefit, in Dilip's
view, because the benefits and demands
of the labor unions (witness last week's
example of the United Auto Worker's
dispute) keep increasing while the pro
ductivity keeps decreasing. "The robots
will counter this situation," Dilip ex
plained, "and the greater demand for
robots will result in a draft of skilled and
educated people into the work force."
Concerning the many unskilled
laborers who would be put out of their
jobs by these mechanical monsters, Dilip
explained that there will always be
employment available for such people,
and that the unemployment rate will not
significantly increase.
, For the first time in Capitol Campus
history, a course dealing with robotics
(titled "advanced Kinematics") will be
offered next term, a fact which pleases
Mr. Patel. "I am glad that the course is
being offered, because there are not
enough schools in the United States that
deal with automation or industrial
robots," he commented. The course will
be taught by Prof. Schiller, and if the
response is encouraging, it will be
offered on a regular basis.
It would be a good idea to keep all of
this information in mind the next time
you get the urge to kick an innocent
vending machine. Its brother may be
standing right around the corner, just
waiting to kick you back.
hand, they are not certain of which
portions of the proposed budget they
will be permitted to vote on. Ertel,
Goodling, Spector, and Heinz are among
the opposition to further cutbacks in aid
to higher education.
Peter Peyser (Rep-NY) and Tip
O'Neill (Rep-Mass.) were among the last
speakers on the steps of the Capitol in
the late afternoon. They vehemently
urged ALL students to take some course
of action (letters, phone calls, visits) in
order to make our Congressmen and
women aware of student opposition to
these serious cuts in higher education.
Although you may have signed a form
letter, please continue to write or call
your Congressional representatives
about your feelings on this issue.
The Graduate Student Union wishes
to thank the SGA for making the trip
possible and also Capitol Campus
students for making this trip worth
while. Nearly 1,000 letters were signed
by students to their respective
Congresspeople and delivered to their
offices in Washington, D.C.
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