Brian Shipman bshipdog

Hi, I'm Brian

A little bit about me

I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Machines have always fascinated me and learning by doing is how I learn best. I have also worked as a Technician for BMW and understand the need for intelligent design for servicability. Additionally I have participated in undergraduate research at the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute (UTARI) and currently work as an ME Intern for the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) on the Automation Team. Check out this page for some of the things I've done during research, my internship with TMAC, academic and personal projects!

Interests

Machine Design
Autonomous Systems & GNC
Embedded Systems
Robotics
Kayaking & Fishing (YES, that is a 50lb Cobia in my profile picture!)

Internship (TMAC)

TMAC or the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center is part of a national network of organizations funded through NIST and the Department of Commerce, known as the MEP, to help small and medium sized manufacturers facilitate growth and resilience through means of guidance in certification, automation, and engineering.

Wire Maze Game

The next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders starts with education of the world around us. At an event called the Texas Manufacturing Day, students across the DFW metroplex from elementary to high school levels were brought out for a day where they could interact with robotics, learn about manufacturing, and hopefully leave inspired. To involve the students in an activity, our team, the A TEAM, was asked to provide some kind of interactive game that the students could participate in that would teach some aspect of manufacturing. We came across the idea to create a wire maze game the students could attempt to challenge a 6-DOF Fanuc CRX arm for time. Needless to say, no one has beaten the robot at any of the events we have brought it to.

To reduce the time and effort invested into the project, we initially bought the games from amazon, lengthened the wires from the ring to the base. We also wanted the wire in the form of the TMAC logo for some swagger. I used 3mm copper wire and created a jig to bend the wires specified by a drawing with offsets added for the corner radii. After assembling it all together, the arm was then taught more than 50 waypoints to guide the ring around the wire maze. During transportation to the event however, the formed wire was bent from when the waypoints were taught and we had to reteach all of the point before the students arrived. 2 things were learned from the event: the students loved it and many students tried to come back to face the robot again, and the system was not tolerant to transportation and small misalignments.

To combat the issues of misalignment, we devised a solution consisting of: abandoning copper for a water-jetted aluminum TMAC logo and a 3D printed base consisting of slots for the aluminum logo, support risers for the long sections of the logo, and reference points for the robotic arm.