After years of working in various engineering and robotics positions, Jeff Kondel decided he needed a change. So he moved his family from Indiana to Florida, unsure of where this new venture would take him. But he didn’t have to wait long. After networking with some fellow engineers one night, Kondel was asked to come to the local junior college to check out what they were studying in their robotics class, where he unknowingly took the first step towards his new career. Upon visiting the classroom, Kondel was surprised to see that students were learning robotics on outdated, antiquated systems. Some of which hadn’t been used in manufacturing plants in years. As he began to voice his concern, the college asked if he could guide them in the right direction. Kondel found himself saying yes, and his product – the Robotically Operated Open Training System (ROOTS) – was born.
COBOTS SUPPORT ROOTS CURRICULUM
As requests for ROOTS Engineering Services’ consulting expanded to other colleges, high schools, and even junior high schools in Florida, Kondel had built a solid curriculum – all based on UR cobots. Said Kondel, “If we want to teach these students industry 4.0 and robotics, then they have to be able to build a real-world system from the ground up. Hiring companies are going to want to see the actual work these students have done, and UR offers the opportunity to greatly decrease development time from the programming side.”
With UR in the mix, Kondel estimates students can learn about robotics in one-third of the time. “The UR cobots are user-friendly, simple to program, and work side by side with less risk. In fact, they’re so easy to understand the students can install the cobots by themselves” he said.