Development of a Remote Tube Bending Lab to Illustrate Springback and Determine Process Limits

Abstract

The benefits of remote labs in overcoming the time and accessibility constraints of conventional labs is well known. To complement the already existing labs at the IUL, a remote tube bending lab incorporating an industry-relevant process was developed to aid in the understanding of important process limits and features of profile bending. The remote lab was developed in a bottom-to-top approach where the underlying tube bending lab was conceptualized and developed keeping in mind the best way to educate the students. Based on a problem based learning approach, the lab gives the students the freedom to explore and discover the field of tube bending on their own. The state of the art bending machine, with open platform communication (OPC) capabilities, coupled with a dedicated specimen handling robot, allows for easy automation of the lab while the use of augmented reality and web cameras facilitate easy visualization of the process and the product.