"Sibbiopharm" is a company dedicated to large-scale production of biotechnological products for agriculture. The scope of their applications includes health care, forest protection, crop production, ecology, and much more. Cooperation with NSU students focused on replacing and modernizing the control system for drying plants. The team was made up of five first year students at the NSU Mechanics and Mathematics Department (MMD): Dmitry Khamutsky (Project Manager), Danil Tishchenko (physical processes and controller replacement), Vitaly Vlasov (software controller), Mikhail Kreshchenko (OPC server and modules), and Yegor Devyatykh (worked on the interface).
The students described the project,
We began by getting the technical specifications fr om the customer. We distributed the tasks among the project participants with everyone choosing what he is better versed in and what he would like to develop. There was a lot of work because we needed to write code for the controller fr om scratch, create an interface, set up an OPC server for data transfer, study the physical process to understand what to write on the controller, understand the operation of modules for signal transmission, and study PID coefficients and their settings. Ultimately, we deviated greatly from the initial plan because we realized that everything can be done more easily. Plus, the customer wanted some additions and adjustments. We tried to concentrate on the work of emergency shutdowns and foresaw all possible errors and emergencies.
The students who took on this project are studying at the Engineering School based on the MMD wh ere education is based around projects. Now they are in the final stage wh ere they defend their projects, present the results of the work, and receive grades. For team members these projects look good in their portfolios and provide an opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in practice from the very beginning of education.
Alexey Zhukov, Chief Power Engineer at Sibbiopharm, described the company’s experience on the project,
Of course, we helped the students work out many things they had never encountered. But they had a good intellectual and professional foundation that allowed them to quickly apply their talents to the work. In addition, we concluded an agreement with the students that binds us with legal and other obligations so our relationship is as similar as possible to cooperation with any professional team. The students were able to upgrade the software for the plant drying so we are satisfied with the partnership.
Early we talked about NSU Engineering School students who are developing algorithms with Whoosh Scooter Company.
