Robot donation a coup for State College of Florida's Coding Academy

It was 2017 when the Certified Collectibles Group paid $135,000 for RND Automation to develop a special machine for its company to pull American Eagle silver dollars out of a case to be evaluated.

The machine made a laborious process rather simple — the coins were sealed tightly in a square plastic case — and cut the time needed to complete the task significantly.

After the coins were pulled and evaluated by Certified Collectibles' staff members, the ones not meeting proper standards were returned to the machine to have the robot seal them back into the plastic case.

Aaron Laine, RND Automation's key account sales engineer who was the main mechanical engineer on the project, said the machine was, indeed, one of a kind.

However, the uniqueness of such specially designed machines also can limit their lifespan. After five years, the way Certified Collectibles received the coins was changed, and the machine became obsolete.

"It got to the point where we could do it better," said Certified Collectibles Vice President Craig Fiumara.

The robot had been designed to handle the American Eagles and also a Chinese coin called the "Panda."

Fiumara said the purchase from RND Automation paid for itself many times over. However, upon taking the machine offline, Fiumara had another problem.

"It is amazing how many labor hours that machine saved us," Fiumara said. "But we have space constraints, and I didn't want to trash it."

Photo by Jay Heater

So Fiumara called Laine and asked if he wanted his machine back.

Laine had an idea. Instead of using the machine to scavenge parts, how about Certified Collectibles donating the machine to an educational institution? Laine could handle the particulars and hopefully land a matching grant of $50,000.

Fiumara, who has purchased four such machines from RND Automation, was all for it, so the two Lakewood Ranch companies worked out the details.

Fiumara said if the donation of the machine would inspire one student to go into the industry, it was worth it.

"I hope those students (who work with the machine), become our future leaders," he said.

Meanwhile, Desh Bagley, the State College of Florida's director of its new Coding Academy (Bradenton campus), had called Laine to see if RND Automation would be willing to make a $500 donation to the school. She was holding a free college workshop open to the public and wanted to use the money to pay for the event's food.

Laine told Bagley, "I've got something better for you."

He asked her if she could make use of the machine and its five-axis FANUC robot.

"I told him, 'I'm game,'" Bagley said.

Bagley said the machine would allow SCF to expand its workforce development training.

Laine worked with Heather Zahory, a program assistant for the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute. PMMI gave a matching grant of $50,000 to accompany the donation.

Zahory said her job is to make connections with schools and industry executives.

"Manufacturing is on the rise," said Zahory, whose office is in Herndon, Virginia. "We definitely need (workers).

"We have to grow awareness about the packaging industry and jobs. We have to create a pipeline."

The grant comes from the PMMI U Skills Fund, part of its nonprofit foundation. Bagley said it is much needed.

Bagley said it would cost $10,000 just to move and set up the machine, about the size of one of those arcade games where a crane tries to grab stuffed animals. However, it's heavy and will require a real crane to place it.

Zahory said it was all happening because of RND Automation.

"They have a strong relationship with our college partners," Zahory said.

While Laine was giving Bagley and Laine a tour of the RND Automation facility in Lakewood Ranch, which was opened in 2018, an SCF Coding Academy summer camp tour group was checking out of machines and robots as well.

Bagley said similar students, who will be approximately 11 and 12 years old, will be learning how to program the machine by next summer. SCF's coding students will be working with the machine in the fall. The Coding Academy opened in 2021.

She said RND Automation is setting a great model for other technology companies to follow.

It was the second major donation of a machine by RND Automation, which was founded in 2005 and has grown to 58 employees. The first donation was given to Suncoast Technical College.