Message in a Bottle

Saturday morning, a speed test took place at the Mechatronics competition site. Competitors were given 2 hours to optimise the performance of an industrial automation project they have been working on since the commencement of the WorldSkills Competition on September 2nd.

The project is a miniature scale simulation of a filtration and bottling system. Every day of the competition, teams have been given the challenge to complete different components of the system.

Lt. (N) Neil Ellerington, Workshop Supervisor, explained, that students will be tested on the mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic aspects of Mechatronics. The last day of the competition focused on how well the system functions in its sequences and how well it has been programmed (the logic control program - known as the brain of the system). At the end of the morning speed test, teams will have fully assembled and programmed their systems to fill, move, and cap 5 bottles to the inspection portion of the system.

The intensity of this competition is in full force. It seems there is a rhythm teams have developed as they work with each other. Teams seem to mimic the function of a system that has been properly programmed to work in automation. Surely a result of loving what they do.