7/30/2021
The 7th Delta International Smart & Green Manufacturing Contest – Grand Prizes Go to Mahidol University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Harbin University of Science and Technology
Teams from China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, and Vietnam Gather Online for the Finals and Open up the New Era of Smart Manufacturing
Smart manufacturing is a major trend for industry. As a world-class smart manufacturing solutions provider, Delta foresaw the trend in 2014 and co-organized The Delta Advanced Automation Design Contest (Delta Cup) with governmental and academic resources. The intent was to provide a platform for students to interact and communicate with official associations or committees, and corporations in the industry to help put knowledge into practice. At the same time, by providing this experience to young talents, Delta is cultivating the next generation for smart manufacturing.
The 7th Delta International Smart & Green Manufacturing Contest ended on July 25th. Different from past years, all the teams and judges gathered online instead of at the Wujiang Plant, the largest production base for Delta Industrial Automation, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental concerns. This year was the first time that the preliminary contest had taken place divisionally, which created more space for students to show their ideas. For the finals during the project demonstration sections, all of the top students showed their in-depth understanding of automation technologies. As they answered the questions, they revealed their extensive thought processes and boundless potential. The 2-day-contest was truly impressive. With the decision from the professional judges, the Grand Prize went to Mahidol University from Thailand, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Harbin University of Science and Technology from China.
The teams from Taiwan were also outstanding contenders at the contest. Among the three teams shortlisted into the finals, Yunlin University of Science and Technology stood out by building a peanut automated collection device that solves the long-term problems of process losses and health issues of operators. The project integrated the Delta machine vision system, photoelectric sensor, pressure sensor, and programmable logic controller (PLC) to complete the process of peanut collection, filtering, and bagging by suction, visual detection, and tracking code generation. By upgrading the agricultural machinery, it would benefit the industry by reducing labor and time. The concept received the judges’ acknowledgments and the First Prize award.Chientan Lien, the CTO of Delta IABG as well as a judge cited, “There are many impressive projects at this year’s contest. We can see large breakthroughs in completeness and practicality. Many students show a better understanding of automation control, observe the applications of new technologies, and consider actual application scenarios, which suits the initial intention of Delta to improve students’ innovation, practical abilities, and pioneering thinking with the Delta Cup.”Last year, the Delta Cup was canceled for the first time ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As many students from around the world showed their regret, Delta paid attention to the development of the epidemic and continuously looked for an alternative way to conduct the contest. The Delta Cup returned in 2021 with the change to a virtual form and attracted 546 teams from 200 schools to attend the contest. There were 100 teams shortlisted into the finals, including three from Thailand, two from India, and one from Vietnam. All of the indexes reached a historical peak. The projects this year were with the themes of Innovative Machine, Smart Factory, and Future Living. Many teams emphasized local issues and tried for automation solutions that make life smarter and more convenient. After the first day’s fierce competition, fifteen teams were shortlisted into the grand finals. Their projects were impressive and showed high potential for application to real scenarios. Finally, the judges reviewed the comprehensive performances and revealed the list for the Grand Prize, First Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize. The awards were not only to acknowledge the students efforts in the contest but also to inspire the students to continue developing the new era of smart manufacturing.There were numerous exceptional projects in The 7th Delta International Smart & Green Manufacturing Contest presented by the teams from China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, and Vietnam. All the students presented their best and brought a fascinating automation show to the judges and the public.• Team Calamari, Mahidol University (Thailand) – “Flood Prevention Solution” (Grand Prize)
The project featured an automated water drainage system integrated with AI technology and machine learning algorithms to predict and prevent flooding. It is designed to present an actual river and simulate different flood scenarios. The controlling of floodgates works under the integration of Delta’s hardware and software, including PLC, servo system, DIACloud, and DIAView. It can also create flowrate mapping to figure the most efficient drainage routes. The design is innovative, practical, emphasizes a major social issue, and demonstrates a smart mode for flood prediction and flow control.• Team Transformers, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) – “Vientiane Bookmark Smart Workshop Magic Show” (Grand Prize)
The team built a customized smart production line with the integration of Delta’s PLC, servo system, and SCARA robot. The system features smart manufacturing trends and is highly comprehensive. It contains production processes from demand sending, database building, production scheduling, and quality monitoring to information tracking after shipping.• Team Deep Thoughts in Technology, Harbin University of Science and Technology (China) – “Kitchen Waste Disposal System” (Grand Prize)
The project focuses on environmental protection. It integrates Delta’s PLC automatic control system and remote gateway control to enhance the efficiency of processing food waste and applies smart technologies. On top of that, the demo machine is comprehensive, and demonstrates the team’s brilliant hands-on capabilities.For more information about The 7th Delta International Smart & Green Manufacturing Contest, please visit the official event site: https://www.delta-china.com.cn/event/deltacup/2021/en/introduction.asp