Industrial Automation Students at BC Showcase Their Senior Projects

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

The Industrial Automation Department at Bakersfield College recently hosted their Senior Project Open House. The event took place in the robotics lab in the Science and Engineering building on BC’s Panorama Campus. The students proudly displayed their projects and were ready to answer questions while putting their projects into action. The senior projects are part of the requirements to receive a bachelor’s degree in the Industrial Automation program.

The public event attracted students, staff, and community members eager to see the senior projects. The projects focused on a wide variety of subject areas including agriculture, robotics, industrial processes, and more. There were more than a dozen projects on display and each one represented a culmination of an entire semester of planning, preparation, and work.

One project titled ‘Pegasus Robot Modernization’ was coordinated by Industrial Automation students Timothy Espinoza, Reginald Ramirez, and Chadrick Simpao. Their project focused on refurbishing an outdated Pegasus 5-Axis Servo Robot to ‘improve usability, performance and accessibility for students and instructors.’ They were all excited to talk about the results of their project.

“Our project here is that we’re actually getting an old piece of legacy equipment – a robotic arm that was originally made in 1995,” said Timothy Espinoza, “so what we’re trying to do is modernize it the best we can.”  Reginald Ramirez also added, “Essentially what we’re trying to do is give this robot another life, and its going to give students an opportunity to get their hands on a piece of legacy equipment that’s been updated,” he said, “so its going to give them some familiarity with the newer robot systems they have been using in class.” Their goal was not only to refurbish the robot, but also to make it easy to use for future students and users. Mr. Espinoza talked about future usage of the robot, “We were especially trying make it as friendly and simplistic as possible for everyone,” he said, “when our project is fully completed next semester, we want to be able to hand the HMI panel to anyone – and they would be able to use it.”

Other projects included a rebuild of the Kern County Sheriff Department robot car, a re-purposed industrial process trainer, a laser guided vehicle, and several others. Attendees were welcome to preview the projects, interact with the students, and even operate a few of the items. Congratulations to all the students who participated, and good luck with completing your bachelor's degree at Bakersfield College.