One of the longest running Parker Motion and Control Laboratories (PMCL) is housed by the department of mechanical engineering at The University of Akron. It was established in 1994 with hydraulic and pneumatic trainers. Since the dedication of the PMCL, Akron has experimented with several different Parker products such as their PID controllers (electronic modules). In later years, UA upgraded to more sophisticated controllers such as the PMC-100 controller followed by Compax3 controller for hydraulic motion control. Today, emphasis in the lab is focused on the Parker Automation Controller (PAC) based flexible manufacturing cell control.
Current mechanical engineering students run at least one motion and control experiment in the Parker lab as part of a required course, “Mechanical Engineering Laboratories.” Additionally, other required courses such as “Senior Design,” “Control System Design” and “System Dynamics and Response” also make use of the lab. Annually, more than 200 graduating seniors run at least one motion and control experiment, enhancing their classroom learning and exposing them to different Parker technologies.