January 7, 2014
ABB Robotics has introduced the SMART (software, maintenance and robotics training) Education Package, available to qualifying schools to help educate and provide hands-on training to students on the basics of manufacturing automation technology and the programming, safe operation, and maintenance of industrial robots.
The package certifies teachers and professors to teach robotics courses, provides curriculum and course outlines and materials, and provides a complete robotic training cell to schools at a reduced cost. A portion of the package may qualify for government STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subsidies, and schools can use the package to support their STEM education initiatives. The package curriculum can be adapted to meet the varying education levels of high schools, universities, community colleges, technical colleges, vocational schools, and adult education centers.
The company's instructors train professors and teachers through customized training courses and hands-on robotics training at its training center. Once the teachers complete the full training, they must pass a certification exam before they can teach courses to students at their own schools.
The robot training cell provided to schools allows students to work directly with a 6-axis industrial robot and RobotStudio, the company's proprietary, graphically based programming software.