Using Internet Based Concurrent Engineering ... - Semantic Scholar

Session S3C

Using Internet Based Concurrent Engineering Tools to Educate Multinational Students about the Design, Process Planning and Manufacture of New Products David E. Culler, Ph.D.1, José Antonio Pérez García, Ph.D.2 Abstract - The data rich manufacturing environment provides an excellent educational platform for working in the emerging fields of E-Engineering and distance learning. Engineers of the future, who are currently in their formation stages at universities around the world, will be responsible for the design and process specification for all types of products and components. Therefore, it is extremely important that different aspects of Concurrent Engineering are analyzed to develop appropriate teaching techniques for the next generation. Four universities have come together to design an experience which educates students about interdisciplinary team building, virtual work groups and international standards by creating an environment of true Collaborative Engineering. Teams were composed of students from three institutions; a conceptual design group, a prototype development group and an industrial production group. Product ideas were based on simplifying computer interaction for the disabled. The project demonstrated the complexity of the entire “art-to-part” process and exposed obstacles and cultural differences that teams had to overcome.

interchange which took place between groups, discusses the results and presents the conclusions and recommendations for completing similar projects in the future.

Index Terms – CAD/CAM/CAE, Design for Manufacturing, E-Learning, Product Data Management.

BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION The educational project titled “E-Engineering” unites teams of students and professors from mechanical and industrial engineering departments at different universities to apply both E-Learning and Concurrent Engineering concepts to the cycle of new product development. The idea was conceived at the University of Vigo (UVigo) in Spain in 2002 and the project began in January, 2003 with three other participants; the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM) in Mexico, the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), and the Polytechnic Institute (ISPJAE) in Cuba. The experience is oriented towards unifying the needs of future professional engineers, combining collaborative, interdisciplinary work assignments with the use of information technologies, thus permitting students to enhance their education using real problems and a global approach. In addition, students must look for the resources and technology required for completing each task, making the learning process focus on the final results. This paper describes the 1 2

Project Based Learning Perspectives The philosophy behind Project Based Learning (PBL) is that students study concepts and learn methods by developing a specific application. Professors used PBL as the basis for defining common goals and guiding the E-Engineering effort: 1) • • • •

From a project perspective How to develop engineering projects at a global level? Identify resources and know-how required for success? Identify the structure of the collaboration process? Identify technologies (hardware and software) needed?

2) • • • •

From a teaching perspective What knowledge should the student possess? What skills will the project teach students? What values and ethics are the most important? How does the project prepare one for employment?

E-Learning is a set of tools and ideas for developing educational projects utilizing the internet. Applying these tools and modern technology to engineering models such as Concurrent Engineering (CE) is more important than ever in the classroom. CE defines a collaborative, parallel approach to design, analysis and manufacturing activities related to new product development. Figure 1 shows the multidisciplinary nature of the team design project completed utilizing the internet and E-Learning concepts.

FIGURE 1: ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS

David E. Culler, Ph.D., Director of SIM-TEC, Costa Rica Institute of Technology, Cartago, Costa Rica, [email protected] José Antonio Pérez García, Ph.D., Professor of Design and Fabrication in Industrial Engineering, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain, [email protected]

0-7803-8552-7/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE October 20 – 23, 2004, Savannah, GA 34th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S3C-14

Session S3C Existing literature that defines the objectives and methods related to each of the two areas mentioned above is presented here to establish a foundation for the project. E-Learning Definitions The tools provided by E-Learning make it possible for all communications and transfer of information during the completion of a project to take place over the Internet. [1] Although technological advances, globalization, and the internet are critical components of E-Learning, bringing together people to share knowledge and find solutions to real problems is the main idea behind the concept. [2] It is also very important to expose students to environments where they are required to work as a team with peers who have different backgrounds and cultural traits in order to simulate real work conditions. Another important aspect is to reinforce that groups are more devoted and efficient in producing a quality product or service than is a single individual. [3] Concurrent Engineering In a traditional product cycle, designs and drawings are produced before continuing on to analysis and the preparation of manufacturing instructions. Design changes and human error can be very time consuming and costly. Figure 2 provides a comparison between the traditional and concurrent models for product development.

“CE aims to overcome all of these limitations, by bringing together a design team with the appropriate combination of specialist expertise to consider, early in the design process, all elements of the product life cycle from conception through manufacture and use in service to maintenance and disposal.” [4] Application of the CE model in the classroom encourages students who are specializing in some area of design or production to understand projects from interrelated perspectives while maintaining a single objective. CE does not work well when there is high uncertainty and many changes are expected in the design. The sequential method is characterized by versatile individuals, slow changes, long lead times and lower quality while CE promotes teamwork, fast changes, short lead times and higher quality. [4] INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING EDUCATION The overlapping activities of design, prototype development and production require a coordinated and concurrent approach to meet project deadlines and implement changes. Effective utilization of international data exchange standards for design and manufacturing would result in faster time to market for new products. This is an enormous challenge for engineers, encompassing many cultural, language and technological gaps that must be analyzed by educators and researchers. Internet tools and advances in dynamic web page and database integration present an exciting future for competing firms and manufacturing engineering education. Companies utilizing different CAD/CAM/CAE software and CNC machine tools regularly experience file incompatibility and missing and/or misinterpreted design data. Constructing the communication bridges necessary to manage global manufacturing projects will require dedicated university involvement in applied research and software and internet applications. Simulating industry conditions in the classroom offers valuable opportunities for exposing students to realities that cannot otherwise be explained using course material. Collaborative Projects

FIGURE 2: SEQUENTIAL VERSUS CONCURRENT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT [4]

Manufacturing engineering partnerships formed between universities have been very successful in two basic areas: 1) creating an environment where design and fabrication are taught from both a theoretical and practical viewpoint and, 2) combining business and manufacturing activities so students see the economic implications of their decisions and take responsibility for communicating requirements. [5] Extending partnerships to include E-Learning concepts and CE for new product development will encourage a rich exchange of information and ideas between students and expose the types of obstacles that companies must overcome to qualify suppliers around the world. There is a need to develop engineering and business skills along with interpersonal relations to connect corporations where different phases of the process are executed in geographically dispersed locations and virtual teams use information technology to manage projects. [6]


Session S3C Challenges and Change Unfortunately, the widespread application of these tools in educational programs has been slow to implement due to limited funding and relative isolation of universities. Professors and students must be forced to interact and study diverse areas while specializing in Engineering. Traditional educational programs do not encourage students in their personal and professional development through self-study and distance learning. Innovative educational systems are designed to combine the experiences of multidisciplinary groups with team based goal achievement and creative thinking very early in their careers. [7,8] The exchange of information and knowledge helps professionals understand the reality facing companies in competitive manufacturing where a products time to market and minimizing design changes are major concerns. Numerous companies currently have on their team individuals from different work areas that collaborate to ensure the success of new products while each member defines and carries out their own activities.

Students were required to use the tools of CAD/CAM software, e-mail, videoconferencing and file transfers. Each team was responsible for posting their work on a published web page. The results will be used for improving future projects and to solicit funding. Product Ideas The basic theme of the concept design phase was based on helping disabled adults and children with limited or no use of a particular extremity to interact with computers. Three examples of designs that were conceived at the ITESM in Mexico, prototyped at the UVigo in Spain and analyzed for production at the ITCR in Costa Rica and ISPJAE in Cuba are shown in Table I.

Name

Foot Switch

E-ENGINEERING PROJECT DESCRIPTION The main objective of the E-Engineering project is to study the interaction required by interdisciplinary teams to complete the following: 1) conceptual design, 2) functional prototype and 3) planning and production activities to take the final product to market. This is shown in Figure 3.

Finger Switch

Air Switch

TABLE I PRODUCTS DEVELOPED BY STUDENT TEAMS Description 3D Image The foot switch is used to transmit a signal from a user who has no use of their hands. It is a simple pedal that can be used to interact with computer software. An electronic chip in the box sends the signals to the computer. The finger switch was designed for a particular child, Jose Omar who has deformed hands. With this device he activates a switch mounted in the housing shown in the figure by moving his index finger. The air switch is used to transmit a signal from a disabled user who breathes into a mouthpiece to select an image from an array displayed on the computer screen. The electronics in the interface box signal the computer that the user has responded.

Although electronic chips and software are part of the overall design, the focus of this project is on the mechanical switches and electronic component housings that are produced using machining and plastic injection molding processes. All of the products are relatively small and have the same material requirements (resistant, non-corrosive plastics). Existing products are expensive and not widely available, especially in developing countries. Creative Freedom Specific tasks associated with the three phases of the product development were described in general terms to the students without specifically assigning work to individual members or specifying a communication structure. See Table II. FIGURE 3 METHODOLOGY FOR E-ENGINEERING PROJECT

E-Engineering is a concept that is used today mostly in specific industries utilizing web based technologies to allow product development and problem solving. Internet-assisted engineering tools allow engineers to work together daily on a real-time basis even if they are geographically separated. 0-7803-8552-7/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE October 20 – 23, 2004, Savannah, GA 34th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S3C-16

Session S3C PROJECT EXECUTION Module 1

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3

TABLE II PROJECT MODULES AND ACTIVITIES Name Description Conceptual Problem description and material requirements Design Product functionality Parametric solid model design Prototype Material Selection for prototype Development Process planning and manufacturing analysis Machining of prototype Production, Evaluation of materials and processes Quality and Quality control Implementation Cost Analysis Production and resource planning

A somewhat under-defined problem statement many times has a positive effect on the level of student effort and the evolvement of team roles. The idea is to evaluate the level of commitment and creativity that students will demonstrate while working in the project based environment. Teams had the freedom to distribute assignments and identify the best way to present results and utilize software, internet tools and university machine shops. Reporting Requirements Dates were established to divide the semester into 3 phases and for presenting progress reports and final results via the team web page. The dates include: • April 11, 2003 – System of interaction with other groups, description of product and planned activities. • May 19, 2003 – Progress report describing ideas, solutions and obstacles encountered. • June 20, 2003 – Final team report via web page and presentation to peers. Resources

RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS

Hardware and software for completing the design through manufacturing of the final product were provided at the individual universities. The fourth year status of the majority of students meant they have already been exposed to CAD/CAM software, Windows applications, machine shop practices including CNC, milling, turning, and the product development cycle. Every university provided access to computing facilities, e-mail, internet and machine tools. Freeware and programs such as Frontpage®, Word®, PowerPoint® and Flash® were used by teams for web pages. Spain has developed the Interconnection of Resources in Information Systems (REDIRIS) as part of their National Plan of Research and Development to serve the academic and research community. Teams could set up correspondence, mailing lists and file depositories to download designs descriptions. The network is managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and offers: - Dedicated networks - E-mail - Distribution lists - Security - Publications

Students were introduced to the project during the first weeks of the semester in February, 2003). Groups formed within each university before receiving their corresponding team assignments with groups at the two other universities. Teams then selected leaders to make the first contact between universities using e-mail. Professors were responsible for defining the product life cycle, explaining the information related to each stage and discussing the integration of departments within a company to efficiently manage the development of a new product. In February and March CAD files were exchanged using various formats to convey design specifications. Design software such as Pro Engineer®, Solid Edge®, Solid Works® and Catia® were used. Various file formats (STEP, IGES, DXF, and DWG) had to be requested to identify the most compatible and complete method for data interchange. Valuable time was lost when files would not open and teams received incomplete design descriptions. Video conferencing played an important role in getting tasks organized and setting deadlines within teams. E-mails, chat rooms and web pages were used to communicate between sites. Team and individual assignments provided groups with the material to complete the first progress reports in April. Product analysis followed to construct the prototype, with groups making recommendations for design changes based on manufacturing and cost analysis. The months of May and June proved to be the most productive months when roles were more clearly understood and deadlines pressured students to make decisions and work toward the final report on June 20, 2003.

- News - Multimedia - Directories - FTP services - Conferences

The final results of the project are very promising. There are also troubling results that must be addressed for future work. Students demonstrated a keen interest and desire to work with students at universities in different countries in order to compare themselves as professionals and see how everyone can benefit from shared results and resources. Every student also learned about topics that they had never been exposed to in other courses including web page development, parametric design, plastic injection molds and material science. On the other hand, misunderstandings and bad communication caused problems that forced changes in expectations and reduced the quality of the final results. Web Page Development Managing information using team web pages was one of the main objectives set for the project. Although the pages produced varied substantially in format and content, important guidelines were established to improve overall organization and adherence to deadlines. A standardized design would also help identify individual responsibilities and the distribution of work among team members. The following content was concluded to be the most important:


Session S3C • • • • • • •

General course information and project objectives Agenda to program activities and deadlines Product and process definitions Minutes and topics from team meetings Contact information for each member Links to other web sites, articles and related literature File depository for design and revision control

-It is difficult to reach conclusions and make decisions using e-mails and chat sessions due to the delays in responses and the limitations for discussing detailed designs and plans.

The final web pages proved to be an excellent tool for professors in performance evaluation and final grades. Examples of student work can be seen at the internet addresses listed below: (*all documentation is in Spanish)

-Credit and grading for the project must be similar at each of the participating universities so the level of effort is equal.

• • •

www.switchdeaire.galeon.com www.iespana.es/fingerswitch.htm www.eengineering.iespana.es/eengineering/foot.htm

Information Technology The exchange of information was accomplished using e-mail, ftp, videoconferencing, and the network REDIRIS. Various programs were used for videoconferences. VRVS is a freeware provided by California Berkeley and allows multiple participants to interact with both video and audio. Links are provided here for different systems available: http://www.vrvs.org http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/ http://web.icq.com/ http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Student Observations It is important to recognize the problems and concerns expressed by students and professors. This feedback will be valuable managing similar projects in the future. -The freedom of planning and developing the project by the teams resulted in a lack of organization and communication, especially during the first month of the semester. Objectives were not clearly documented and communicated at the beginning of the project period. -Some students said that there were no major problems in completing the tasks because they worked as individuals or in small groups within the same university to achieve goals. -Team members complained that students at the other universities were not being responsible with completing their activities and communicating. Oddly enough, groups at the other locations had the same opinion. -The interchange of information was very inefficient due to the incompatibility of CAD/CAM software and receiving files that wouldn’t open or contained incomplete data.

Faculty Observations -Consensus agreement on deadlines proved to be difficult due to the variations in start and finish dates, breaks, and semester formats at the different universities.

-CAD/CAM system incompatibility caused costly periods of dead time and frustration even though standardized files including STEP, IGES and DXF were supplied. Partnerships with Industry Visits to local machine shops and companies that design new products in CAD and utilize plastic injection mold processes were very beneficial to the students participating in the EEngineering project. The experience motivated the engineers and specialists at the companies as well as the students. There is no way to teach at the same level of emotion and detail as someone who works in a specific environment every day. Students were able to relate better to the engineers and ask better questions because of the project. Many visits led to follow-up lectures from other experts contacted through the companies themselves. The industrial sector in each of the countries represented in the project is in desperate need of assistance from the academic sector and government to adapt to rapid changes in manufacturing. Competition and limited resources result in a very slow reaction to automation and improvement opportunities. Results from student projects can be very valuable if they are focused on real problems which are costing companies money. The win-win relationship between industry and universities developed during the E-Engineering experience raised the level of education for all of the participants. Guide for Future Projects A thorough evaluation of team projects and comments from participants led to the development of a detailed guide for repeating the project. The document includes sections on defining objectives, planning, responsibilities, information management, web page design and evaluation methods. This work will help to eliminate many of the problems faced during the first experience. Accountability and timely responses are of utmost importance for project success. For both feedback and evaluation purposes a section titled “FORUM” must be included in each web page which contains a log of all communications taking place between team members. Professors will also follow an established calendar for evaluating individual team progress and discussing course content and deadlines.


Session S3C CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Many lessons were learned from the E-Engineering experience. Professors and students alike were surprised by the complexity of the entire project and the many points of view that had to be considered. Professors learned that freedom and creativity must be offset by structure and accountability so projects do not lose their focus, resulting in students becoming disinterested. This project achieved the goal of identifying the principal factors of success in the implementation of innovative techniques in engineering education. Concurrent Engineering • • •

Manufacturing functions are overlapping and not completely concurrent, making it difficult for students to know when and how to start on their activities. The benefits of CE are more dependent on interpersonal than on inter-technological communications. People are always the key to the success or failure of a project. A future recommendation would be to utilize software that allows system control transfer from one group to another. Example: Group 1 has a design in CAD. Group 2 has a question regarding a fillet that cannot be machined as defined. Group1 logs into the Group2 session and manipulates the part to identify the fillet in question. Group2 makes the appropriate changes to the design in real time.

International Data Exchange Standards “A critical concern of CAD and of CAM is the communication of design and manufacturing data within the engineering organization and indeed between those organizations involved in the manufacture of a product.”[4] Engineers with industrial experience are not surprised by problems related to CAD data interchange. For students, the collaborative nature of product development depends more on the willingness of each person to insure that all team members are able to view and interpret design specifications than on true technical issues related to file formats. If not addressed early in the project, this can become an obstacle which undermines and interrupts the entire learning process. There are a variety of classes of standards that must be utilized throughout the product development cycle. A design in CAD contains geometric entities (lines, points, surfaces, etc.) and dimensioning/tolerance data (distances, surface finish, and material description) whose definitions are stored in the application database. As long as both the customer and supplier are aware of which standard is being used (ANSI, ISO, BSI, DIN, GT or ISO), drawings and information can be interpreted for processing. To transfer a part model from one CAD system to another or to a software for analysis and manufacturing (CAE,CAM), STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data) and IGES (International Graphic Exchange Standard) are the most complete and neutral file formats.

A valuable lesson learned from the E-Engineering experience is that at every phase of the process, the design is the basis for all work to be completed. The conceptual design of products took place in Mexico with ProEngineer® and Solid Edge®, the prototype development in Spain with Catia® and MasterCam® and the production planning in Costa Rica with SolidWorks® and EdgeCam®. At different times throughout the semester, files were exchanged using IGES and STEP as well as the "defacto" standards of DXF and DWG based on the worldwide use of AutoCad®. Continued progress in implementing STEP is critical for industry and academia, not only to efficiently import/export CAD data but also for defining the documentation which supports manufacturing and procurement with suppliers. Closing Comment Teaching through collaboration and E-Learning techniques permits academic institutions to compare and improve their level of education and ability to interact with a diverse group of professionals with a common goal. Further work in this area will encourage the identification of new engineering methods and teaching techniques for generations of students to come. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Costa Rica Institute of Technology (Costa Rica): Department of Industrial Production Engineering. Students in the final year course of Automation in Manufacturing. Prof. David E. Culler University of Vigo (Spain): Department of Design and Manufacturing in Industrial Engineering. Students in the final year course of Fabrication Processes II. Prof. José Antonio Pérez, Prof. Gustavo Peláez Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico): Center for Integrated Manufacturing Systems. Students in the final semester course of Design for Manufacturing in Electronics. Prof. Arturo Molina Polytechnic Institute Jose Antonio Eschavaria (Cuba): Department of Mechanical Engineering. Students in third and fourth year course of Machines and Tools in Mechanical Engineering III. Prof. Mariano Sánchez Castro, Prof. Modesto Vidal González

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