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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1980)
Kage a I HL BA I I ALIUN MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1980 Local BISD shows film Tuesday The Bryan Independent School District Community Education advisory council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Bryan Public Lib rary. The program will include the showing of a film “To Touch a Child.” The public is invited to attend. COUPON MB TACOFEST Tacos for only '1 I I 107 Dominik College Station 3312 S. College Bryan Limit 10 tacos with this coupon any Mon., Tues. or Wed. in October from 5-8:30 p.m. MBHMHaCOUPONH rvtt f w w w w w w vt run > t) n c) t j c) 11 m OKTOBERFEAST WEEKDAY LUNCHEON SPECIAL SAVE $1.25 to $1.65 With each $2.50 or larger food and beverage purchase have an Ice Cream Soda or a Treasure Island Float (your choice of Root Beer or Coke) ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ONLY OVENSEN’S EXPIRES 10/31/80 Culpepper Plaza • College Station 693-6948 X n n n ~n n n n n n'n Trtv htitt t vnon SPECIAL PURCHASE erficial I student Machine tools built with plastic parts made by a West German toymaker are being used in a Texas A&M engineering lab to ■ simulate factory machines that cost millions of dollars. Dr. Tools to find hidden flaws Robert Young and graduate students Joe Morgan and John Campbell examine a plastic mechanical robot. NIKE IRREGULARS sit-" . •Blazer Hitop Canvas Basketball REG. SALE Industrial robots not toys By KATHY O’CONNELL Battalion Reporter pSnapping together plastic toy parts isn’t just fun and games as a class of engineering students at Texas A&M University are finding out. ? Playing with these toys can lead to understanding new tools used in in dustry -— robots. i Dr. Robert E. Young, assistant professor of industrial engineering at Texas A&M, said there is a common misconception about industrial robots. Most people see them as R2-D2 of Star Wars, or some other mechanical character of the silver screen, p He also said it’s a misconception that robots take the place of humans. I “It’s not like the robot takes the man’s job, it usually upgrades the skill level,” he said. “Everywhere you see a robot, there is someone working with it.” The plastic toy parts, purchased from a West German toymaker, are being used to build models of factory machines, he said. In terms of toys, he said, it’s ex pensive, but in terms of building a full-scale model the project is inex pensive. The cost of the Fischertechnik toys is $1,000. “What we’re doing here at A&M is starting a manufacturing engineer ing program,” Young said. He said it’s a joint program be tween engineering technology, in dustrial engineering and mechanical engineering. Young said the responsibility of the industrial engineering depart ment is along the computer manufac turing lines. “Our responsibility,” he said, “is to come up with the systems designs and techniques that will allow them to be integrated in automated sys tems. “This means computer languages, computer simulation and physical models of actual factory machines. ’’ The department is setting up an automated systems laboratory which will contain a miniature milling machine and multi-axis robot, Young said. The milling machine was built with the plastic parts by Capts. Joe Morgan and John Campbell, both engineering graduate students. Young said he’s proud these stu dents designed, built and wrote computer languages for the milling machine. The machine is now prog rammed to etch the Texas A&M logo, and what they jokingly refer to as an “Aggie ruler” on a square of plexiglass. The “ruler” is actually a spiral de sign. The machine, he said, enables stu dents to get an idea of how a real milling machine works. The multi-axis robot, which will be used to run the machine, is being built by two other students as a senior project. Young said these “toys” will help fill a gap in the manufacturing pro cess. The process to design equipment, he said, is to start with a mathematic al model. From there, the models are computer simulated and the best system is chosen. The final step is to construct the best design from plastic parts. These procedures, developed from using the toy machines, he said, will allow designers to detect hidden problems. • Men’s & Ladies Roadrunner •Oceania (Men’s Trainer) 2t* fl • Racquette Leather Ladies Tennis " # Ollie Oceania (kid’s sizes) ^9^ • Dakota Kid (brown canvas) •Curt Canvas Limited sizes and quantities. These shoes may have slight defects & do not carry factory gaurantees. s 16 95 $ 22 95 $“|495 $24 95 $-|495 $-|495 $-| -| 95 COTTON TUBE SOCKS Adults 99° Youths SB* "TJvl l.orker Room mo Villa Marla (across from Manor East Mall) Ope* Moo. Sat. 9-3M nt Wine-tasting for KAMU Thursday The Friends of KAMU will host a wine-tasting party from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Aggieland Inn to be- utedly t Texas A&M University’s radio and television stations. The Friends of KAMU is a service- lce B oriented group which assists the t- U'KAMU stations through volunteer eeil f' services and fund-raising activities, boreal f The party will be presented by the California Wine Institute and will in clude representative vintages of 16 different California and Texas wine makers. Assorted cheeses, breads and fruits will be available to clear the palate between sips. Tickets cost $5 per person and may be obtained from members of Friends of KAMU or by calling 845- 5611. The following area merchants also have tickets: Hastings Books and Records, Prioriteas, First National Bank, Youngbloods, City National Bank and the Aggieland Inn. All proceeds will go toward the purchase of programs for public broadcasting in the Brazos Valley. eest *i0MSC AGGIE ciNEMA!mmmmmmwiMMMWWW\zwwmmzv%, /oteiu'jg sidentfe so, F jp thin!?' H iere ^ tudy itapaij “sign# andc 05 m tR! lis pof me' 1 INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO MSC AGGIE CINEMA! ACTIVE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN MEETING YOU! irial n, ‘” /sioK Stow] ih, l>‘! unbe'* Add**: ttalio 1 Start 1 s h> ntli'l ;7# Guys AND Gals Hair Design ARE CHANGING THEIR NAME TO MANHATTEN SOUTH MANHATTEN SOUTH DESIGN CENTRE STILL THE VERY BEST IN HAIR CARE! AND NOW WE’VE ADDED SOMETHING NEW! 112 Nagle at University 846-5761 The career decision you make today coidd Influence national security tomorrow. For professionals at NSA contribute to the dual missions of foreign intelligence production and communications security. 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