Talented future engineers step-up to the Brazilian MECA challenge

The results of the Technical College competition

The winning project of the technical college category was the “Application of IIoT in Industry 4.0 Automated Manufacturing Systems” from the CENTRO DE EDUCAÇÃO PROFISSIONAL E TECNOLÓGICA DE IMPERATRIZ team. The second place went to the team from SENAI BRÁS - ROBERTO SIMONSEN.

The winners of the Escolas Técnicas (Technical College competition) were the students from CENTRO DE EDUCAÇÃO PROFISSIONAL E TECNOLÓGICA DE IMPERATRIZ with their project on the application of IIoT in Industry 4.0 automated manufacturing systems

The students in second place of the Escolas Técnicas (Technical College category) focused their project on "Sustainable technologies for the production of green hydrogen: a renewable approach to the future of energy".

The results of the University competition

After a close competition, the winner of the University category was IFSP SERTÃOZINHO who investigated preventive maintenance for servo motors, taking the first place with their “Proposal of a smart diagnostic software sensor for a rotating machine.”, while the team from IFSP BRAGANCA PAULISTA came in a close second place.

The students of IFSP SERTÃOZINHO took first place in the Instituições do Ensino Superior (University category) with a project focusing on preventive maintenance for servo motors.

The second placed students of the Instituições do Ensino Superior (University competition) were from the IFSP BRAGANCA PAULISTA with their project for automated warehousing of medicines.

Outstanding prizes for the winners

The winning teams received substantial prizes for their faculty as a result of their efforts. Industrial robots and PC notebooks were awarded to the two teams that took first prize, while the second placed teams each received a substantial donation of FA products. Additionally, on a personal level, the wining team members were each awarded a three month internship at Mitsubishi Electric Brazil where they can sharpen their skills and gain valuable experiences.

Sadly, not everyone can be a winner, so while they narrowly missed out this time and may have had some regrets, finally everyone celebrated the great experience they had at the first Mitsubishi Electric Cup Automation in Brazil.

Award winning projects

Like most developing countries, Brazil faces problems dealing with waste, especially in large cities. In recent years, as more people have become interested in environmental issues, this has risen in importance. As an acknowledgement of this, many of the MECA teams focused on renewable energy, looking to turn the discarded waste in to a valuable resource.

The first prize winner in the Technical Schools category believed that industry in Brazil can grow more rapidly by adopting the concept of Industry 4.0. The team submitted a project aimed at improving operational efficiency and safety by automating and visualizing production processes and machines using IIOT. They wanted to demonstrate how to reduce raw material waste by minimizing component quality issues, while also reducing energy waste by turning off conveyors when there are no components on them.

The team that won the second prize in the Technical Schools category offered a novel project to use industrial liquid waste for energy production. The project aims to collect data, monitor, and control the electrolysis of industrial liquid waste to produce hydrogen, which can be collected and stored in capsules.

Several teams worked on projects based around trying to lower the costs of recycling parts. One of the goals was to make it so low cost that it could be easily adopted by city bound shops and factories. The students' passion to make the immediate future better was very clear and can only lead to a better future for everyone.

The first prize winner in the Universities category submitted a project to establish the use of a software sensor that can extract and share information using IoT, to understand the “health” of a monitored mechanical device. The concept proposed an intelligent edge or cloud system that can replicate the control mechanism, by processing data collected through an industrial network. The proposal was to control servomotors via a PLC, and to then diagnose the integrity of the machine operation without using specialized sensors. The target being to identify mechanical failures such as misalignment and faulty bearings, and to use the system to suggest when preventive maintenance should be executed.

The second place team in the University category submitted a project that can be universally used at large and small pharmacies. By storing detailed information about packaging, for example the size of the box, it could use that data to accurately pick up objects regardless of physical location, prevent delivery mistakes, shorten search times and improve operational efficiency. By automating the effort spent searching for products, the time saved could then be used communicating with customers.

Hearing the voice of the participants

After MECA Brazil finished some of the students and participants shared how they felt about taking part.

“It's embarrassing to say, but I didn’t know much about Mitsubishi Electric beforehand. However, I joined because I thought it was a challenge to learn about new technology and incorporate that knowledge into my life. This time, after using Mitsubishi Electric’s FA products, I found that the robustness and quality were good, and above all, the support was excellent. The other teams also had a wide variety of projects and found that Mitsubishi Electric FA equipment could be adapted to different industries.” Alan Rodrigues.

“I learned that the best way to learn is to "move your hands." It was hard, but I really enjoyed it. There are not many competitions like this, so if there is a another one, I would definitely recommend it to other students.” Luiz Gustavo.

“I had never used a Mitsubishi Electric product before, so it was a challenge to learn to program it. Through this participation in MECA, I was able to experience Mitsubishi Electric FA equipment, take an online course, and learn about FA products. I would like to take part again if I have a chance. This experience is unique, I highly recommend it.” João Vitor Silva.

In closing the event, President of Mitsubishi Electric Brazil, Fabiano Lourenço commented "We are thrilled with the very high level of the projects and the wide variety of solution proposals. We are honored to have run the MECA competition in our emerging market, completely free for the participants. It has been highly productive and we hope it will be the first of many.”
Mr. Lourenço went on to add, “Every team has thought about how automation can be used in key industries or for the benefit of society. This has been a great milestone for the participants and our company, Mitsubishi Electric. Everyone who participated in this event is a winner, and we would like to applaud everyone for taking part.”

Concluding thoughts

MECA was held for the first time in Brazil. It was exciting to see students faraway from Japan being touched by Mitsubishi Electric FA products. The ingenuity of the teams in coming up with solutions that can be used for the benefit of all, their comradery and spirit demonstrated that MECA has been a good experience for them and will prepare them for future challenges.

* MECA: Mission, Experience, Communication, Achievement.