UT DALLAS WINS SIXTH CONSECUTIVE ASME CONFERENCE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

UT DALLAS WINS SIXTH CONSECUTIVE ASME CONFERENCE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

A UTDesign Capstone team earned first place at the 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference.  The winning team (O SNAP) designed the Semi-Automated Camera Alignment and Focus Tool project that automates the centering and focusing processes allowing the camera to perform optimally and produce high-quality video.

WatchGuard Video, part of Motorola Solutions, supplies mobile video solutions to approximately one-third of all law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada.  Currently, each of the approximately 45,000 cameras WatchGuard Video assembled each year are centered and focused by hand.  The assembly process is slow and highly dependent on the assembler’s interpretation of whether a camera is properly centered and focused or not, making it difficult to track the quality of their products.

The UTDesign team was tasked with constructing a working prototype of a semi-automated camera optical alignment and focus tool, allowing WatchGuard Video to control and measure the quality of its products, increase assembly speed, and reduce human error. The team was confident they addressed all of the agreed upon requirements while also considering budget, safety, and functionality. The system’s semi-automated nature improves WatchGuard Video’s current practices by greatly decreasing camera assembly time and increasing the ability to track and improve device quality.

The UTDesign Capstone team is absolutely thrilled by the accomplishment of these seniors in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas and hopes that their prototype will serve as WatchGuard Video’s next step in improving its camera quality.

All group photos taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For current COVID-19 campus updates, visit utdallas.edu/COVID.