Red River College awarded federal funds for robotics, sustainable buildings, and electric vehicle research tools
Some of the NSERC funding will be used to purchase new end-of-arm tools for our Motoman robots
River College (RRC) was awarded new funding today from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to continue the College’s applied research in the fields of electric vehicle (EV) testing, large building envelope research and robotics innovation.
A total of $327,842 has been awarded to RRC as part of NSERC’s College and Community Innovation Program – Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants (ARTI).
“This funding allows us to purchase and install specific research tools and equipment that will have an immediate impact on our applied research capacity across several industrial sectors,” said Ray Hoemsen, Director of Applied Research & Commercialization at RRC.
The tools and equipment being purchased and/or built include an EV rapid charging station and battery testers, a building envelope test chamber to test wall sections and materials, and new end-of-arm and imaging tools for existing robotics.
The EV charging station will be instrumental in testing EVs in Manitoba’s extreme climate
“These are assets that will directly support our industry partners’ research and training needs as well as enhancing student and instructor applied learning at the College,” said Stephanie Forsyth, RRC president and CEO. “They support our strategy to drive Manitoba’s economy in an innovative and sustainable way.”
With $72,292 from NSERC, the EV rapid charging station and battery testers will be incorporated into RRC’s Electric Vehicle Training and Education Centre (EVTEC) were it will have an immediate impact on both new and ongoing projects such as the all-electric transit bus project with partners that include New Flyer Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Manitoba Hydro and the Province of Manitoba.
The structural test chamber will be instrumental in making Manitoba’s existing and yet to be built buildings more energy efficient
Enhancing the College’s considerable capacity and expertise in conducting applied research on the energy performance of buildings is $139,300 to build an air, water, and structural test chamber in the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI). Along with specialized training opportunities, the chamber will allow building envelope innovations to be evaluated prior to their actual use in the construction of buildings.
The new tools for industrial robotic applications, valued at $116,250, will be incorporated into the existing suite of technologies in RRC’s Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TAC) and the Centre for Aerospace Technology and Training (CATT). With the TAC and CATT, RRC supports aerospace and manufacturing organizations through access to research tools and expertise, technological assets and state of the art equipment.
More detailed reports on the NSERC ARTI grants and the applied research they will support can be found below:
Industrial Robotics Backgrounder
EV Charging Station Backgrounder
Structural Test Chamber Backgrounder