JOHOR BAHRU, 3 Jun. – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has received one year of Visual Components (VC) license from Roll Robotics Sdn. Bhd. Visual Components is one of the leading 3D simulation software for manufacturing. This software will be used in Bachelor of Engineering Electrical-Mechatronics for Robot Technology for Automation course (SKEM4153) under School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UTM Johor Bahru.

Visual Components (Figure 1) is a powerful simulation software that can be used to do a layout planning, production simulation, off-line programming and PLC verification. This software has shown to be handy and beneficial for engineering undergraduates to understand the real-world applications during the pandemic where most courses are being conducted virtually without access to the machines.

Robot Technology for Automation course is taught by Associate Professor Dr. Yeong Che Fai from Centre for Artificial Intelligent and Robotics (CAIRO), UTM.  He is very pleased and thankful for the collaboration and sponsor from Roll Robotics Sdn Bhd (RR). RR is a reseller for Visual Components in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Dr. Yeong added that this collaboration will not only benefit the students to get them ready for the industry but also as an important activity to strengthen the collaboration between UTM and industry. The students will use this software for their assignments in which they have to solve a real industrial problem.

Ms. Choo, Director from Roll Robotics, feels happy with the collaboration and glad to have this opportunity to empower the students to be ready for industry. She even mentioned that she is ready to hire some of these students as the demand for this talent will be needed. As part of the collaboration, RR has conducted training for the students and acted as a technical advisor for their assignments (Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively). Moving forward, both parties are eager to see the outcome and further potential collaborations.