Fully Integrated Automation Platform

The Vendor is required to provide platform will serve as a fully integrated automation environment that enables students to design, simulate, deploy, and operate real-world manufacturing systems within a single ecosystem.
- The system must bridge digital design and physical implementation, allowing students to progressively develop solutions and directly observe their performance in a live production setting.
- Lab covering areas such as robotics, controls, sensors, and system integration, while also supporting small-scale production activities that mirror modern industrial operations.
- System Architecture & Integration
• Single-vendor, fully integrated platform combining:
o Structural framing (T-slot aluminum extrusion system)
o Motion systems
o Conveyance systems
o Controls architecture
- All components must exist within a unified ecosystem to ensure students interact with a cohesive, industry representative system rather than fragmented subsystems
- Must maintain a comprehensive, standardized component library, including:
• Structural elements, motion modules, conveyance options, and control components
• Pre-engineered, interoperable modules designed for seamless integration
• Configurations that support a wide range of automation applications without custom design
- Supports Instructional Objectives
• Single solution, fully integrated system that is easy to maintain and train students to use.
• Bridges the gap between engineering design and physical system implementation; students must be able to refine, validate, and deploy within the same ecosystem.
• The component library supports student-driven system design, iteration, and reconfiguration across multiple lab activities and projects
• System must be 100% modular, reconfigurable, and reusable, enabling:
• Repeated instructional use across semesters
• Rapid transition between lab exercises and project-based learning
• No custom machining, welding, or structural modification required, ensuring:
• Safe student interaction
• Accessibility for users with varying levels of technical experience
• All automation elements must be delivered as part of a pre-engineered integrated system, enabling students to focus on system behavior and performance rather than custom integration
- Digital Design & Twin Capability
• Cloud-based design platform directly tied to hardware ecosystem
• Real-time bill of materials (BOM) generation from design environment
• Persistent digital twin that supports:
o Simulation
o Iterative/refinement-based design
o Direct instructional use in coursework
o Future system modification and expansion
• Digital model must remain accessible post-deployment for ongoing instructional use and student access
• Platform must enable students to design systems digitally and directly implement those designs in the physical lab environment, reinforcing design-to-deployment learning
- Plug-and-play control system with open architecture
- Supports third-party sensors, actuators, and end-effectors
- Supports digital and analog I/O
- Compatible with both Python and C++
- System must function as a centralized integration hub for all hardware and control logic
- Architecture must allow students to develop, test, and deploy control logic across multiple system components within a single platform.