Industrial maintenance students produce working robot in class.

Industrial maintenance students produce working robot in class. HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) -- It looked unfinished, with the nuts andbolts nuts and boltspl.n. SlangThe basic working components or practical aspects: "[proposing] spread out on a nearby table and the wires curling out and aroundin apparent disarray. But for a group of students at Henderson Community College Henderson Community College (HCC), located in Henderson, Kentucky, is one of 16 two-year, open-admissions colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). , theirassignment wasn't about appearances. After all, it's one thing to build a robot that just lookslike it will work. It's another to create one that will. "I'm really proud of our students," said RandyOwens, who teaches and coordinates the only college industrialmaintenance technology program of its kind in Kentucky. "The more efficient the economy becomes, the more these peopleare needed," he added. "Sure, robots will replace people. Butyou'll need the people to fix the robots." In three weeks, 10 men did just that, completing what theydescribed as a programmable logic controller See PLC. (hardware) Programmable Logic Controller - (PLC) A device used to automate monitoring and control of industrial plant. Can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with a SCADA or other system. project. It sounds complicated, and to a certain extent, it is. The goal wasto find a way to help hearing-impaired children play a musical keyboard. To do that, white, red, blue and green light bulbs were lit up atthe sound of each note of the song "Mary Had a Little Lamb "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is a nursery rhyme of 19th-century American origin. Original textMary had a little lamb,Its fleece was white as snow;And everywhere that Mary went,The lamb was sure to go. ." For fun, and as a final touch, the students attached Two Bit, astuffed animal rabbit, to the air cylinders so that it appeared his pawswere hitting notes on the piano that played the song. The project had to include key elements for the college students tomake the grade. These included a timer, a counter, a sequence routine, asub-routine, math and data transfer. As Owens explained, the final project was a test of everything thestudents have learned in the industrial maintenance technology program.And as one student said, the roles the students chose for the projectseemed to come relatively easily. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jared Brooks was the project engineer, meaning he oversaw theproject to make sure all the materials and workers were on the job. Meanwhile, Demetrius Chester and Brandon Bush designed the computerprogram that told the robot to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb"on the piano. Marvin McAtee, Jerry Morrow, Robert Robards, Chase Jewell, JacobBusby and Josh Smith assisted in the wiring, air pressure and otherportions of the construction. Carl Boksa was the purchaser who gatheredthe materials used for the project. "It's definitely beneficial," Brooks said of theprogram. "Even to someone who has been out in (the industry), youcan still learn (new things)." That's also true for those who are recent high schoolgraduates. Bush graduated from Henderson County High School Henderson County High School is the only high school in Henderson County, Kentucky and is divided into three units, red, green and blue, which act as separately functioning high schools. last year,but even then he was often at the college, putting in what he said wereabout two hours per school day for a dual credit class with Owens. "(This program) has taught me how to understand the flow ofelectricity and how things work in general," the 19-year-old said. Bush will be taking what he learned in the course along with him toMurray State University PublicationsIts student newspaper, The Murray State News, has been awarded two Pacemaker awards in the last decade, the highest award given to collegiate newspapers; in addition, the school yearbook, The Shield, , where he intends to focus on telecommunicationssystems management. Others find jobs in or are assisted in fine-tuning their skills inindustrial maintenance. Brooks, for instance, said he worked at a die casting company for12 years and is now in maintenance at an aluminum plant. But he wants to complete his bachelor's degree at theUniversity of Southern Indiana The University of Southern Indiana (USI) is a public university in Evansville, Indiana. This publicly-funded institution is rapidly growing and is the fastest growing comprehensive state university in Indiana. or Murray State University. That way he will not only have a variety of skills; he will alsohave his college degree. By integrating fluid power, motor control and robotics, blueprintreading, computer aided drawing, AC/DC electricity, maintenance ofindustrial equipment and digital electronics, the students work as ateam to accomplish something that is greater than the sum of its parts,Owens said. "I don't recruit these guys," he said. "Theycome to me because they want to learn." Owens added that he really enjoys what he does and the fact thatthe community college and the area support the industrial maintenancetechnology program. "It's a great thing and it's part of what we are asan American workforce," he said. "We will get through thisdifficult time with hard work and education, and some faith." BY VICTORIA GRABNER, THE GLEANER