Team Members & Role:

• Michael Castellanos – Team Lead
• Tyler VanHelene – Design Lead
• David Lach – Analysis Lead
• Joshua Mayer – Fabrication Lead
• Shane Pidgeon – Evaluation Lead

Abstract:
In recent years, Callaway Golf has rebuilt their ball manufacturing plant from the ground up, becoming one of the leading producers of golf balls in the eastern United States. While the overall effectiveness of their plant has increased, the rubber preform loading process has yet to be optimized.
Currently, operators manually load cylindrical preforms into large trays. The loading process is both time-consuming and inefficient, slowing the transition from extrusion to the core molding process. An autonomous loading system would eliminate the need for operator involvement and result in an overall more efficient process, leading to reduced labor cost and increased production speed. The mission of this project is to develop an automated, accurate, and adaptive loading system for rubber preforms.
Although some competitors, such as Titleist, have already engineered a solution, Callaway’s process has several unique constraints, complicating potential designs. The leading design constraints are the tacky preform material and the nonuniform tray. The team will approach the leading issues with a three-component solution: A v-shape conveyor belt (to orient performs out of extruder), a vertical speed-controlled dispenser (to control speed of loading, adaptiveness), and an X-Y table indexing the tray (to accurately load at high speeds). Resulting is a completely autonomous system, capable of variable loading speeds with the potential to increase efficiency of the Callaway plant.