A 10-Year Mechatronics Curriculum Development Initiative: Relevance, Content, and Results—Part I (original) (raw)

A 10Year Mechatronics Curriculum Development Initiative: Relevance, Content, and Results - Part II

IEEE Transactions on Education, 2010

This paper describes the second and third phases of a comprehensive mechatronics curriculum development effort. They encompass the development of two advanced mechatronics courses ("Simulation and Modeling of Mechatronic Systems" and "Sensors and Actuators for Mechatronic Systems"), the formulation of a Mechatronics concentration, and offshoot research activities in the mechatronics area. The first phase involved the design of an "Introduction to Mechatronics" course and the infusion of mechatronic activities throughout the curriculum and in outreach activities and has been described in a companion paper "A 10-Year Mechatronics Curriculum Development Initiative: Relevance, Content, and Results-Part I" (IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, vol. 53, no. 2, May 2010).

A 10Year Mechatronics Curriculum Development Initiative: Relevance, Content, and Results - Part I

IEEE Transactions on Education, 2010

This paper describes the second and third phases of a comprehensive mechatronics curriculum development effort. They encompass the development of two advanced mechatronics courses ("Simulation and Modeling of Mechatronic Systems" and "Sensors and Actuators for Mechatronic Systems"), the formulation of a Mechatronics concentration, and offshoot research activities in the mechatronics area. The first phase involved the design of an "Introduction to Mechatronics" course and the infusion of mechatronic activities throughout the curriculum and in outreach activities and has been described in a companion paper "A 10-Year Mechatronics Curriculum Development Initiative: Relevance, Content, and Results-Part I" (IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, vol. 53, no. 2, May 2010).

Preparing the leaders for mechatronics education

Technology-Based Re-Engineering Engineering Education Proceedings of Frontiers in Education FIE'96 26th Annual Conference

Mechatronics is the synergetic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic control and systems thinking in the design of products and processes. There is a need to develop interdisciplinary programs in Mechatronics that better prepare our graduates to design, build, and operate the products and systems of today and tomorrow. To address this need, National Science Foundation funded a project entitled "Preparing the Leaders for Mechatronics Education" undertaken by Cal Poly in 1995-1996. In this paper, the activities that took place during this two-year program is outlined. Several courses and course modules have already been developed and implemented by the participants of this program for their own universities. Some of their pioneering work in this field is also summarized.

Mechatronics Education: Needs and Challenges

paper, 2019

Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary branch that combines electronics, mechanics, and computer science. Due to the digital revolution, mechatronics is growing fast, rapidly spreading from manufacturing to many new sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, security, and transportation. As a consequence, mechatronics training courses are proliferating at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Nowadays, a considerable number of educational institutions, both academic and vocational, are offering mechatronics education, however their programs are not homogeneous and depend on teaching staff competence and available resources. This paper presents NewMetro, an EU funded project that aims to develop an innovative European framework of competences for mechatronics education and an educational model able to address the needs of young people as well as adult workers undergoing requalification programs. The philosophy of the project and the first activities carried out are illustrated and discussed.

Design and Development of a Multidisciplinary Industry Supported Course in Mechatronics

2018

This paper presents the development of an introductory mechatronics course, and evaluation of a pilot summer course by industry and government partners as well as alumni. Students in the pilot course were from a local community college who participated in a summer internship at Virginia State University (VSU) under the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-AMP) project. These students had completed their second year at the community college, and plan on pursuing a bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline. The course started with project-based teaching of fundamentals of electrical circuits, electronics, and instrumentation followed by introduction to mechanical design. It concluded with design projects using the skills that students learned from the aforementioned subjects. The projects aimed at promoting active learning, research, problem solving, and understanding the design process. The pilot course was used to evaluate the instructional materials to be utili...

Mechatronics education is presented and discussed. Then, focus is shifted to the Mechatronics

2005

controller education. Examples are given of the MC68HC11 microcontroller and the different evaluation boards used for (a) code development; (b) embedded applications. Then, attention is given to the software used in the mechatronics/microcontroller education. The THRSim11 comprehensive simulation and interfacing software is described. Finally, the paper discusses the interfacing between the microcontroller and the various electro-mechanical sensing and actuation components used in a mechatronics project. The use of functional modules for teaching interfacing skills to mechanical engineering students is described. The paper finishes with conclusions and further work.

Development of Courses in Mechatronics and Mechatronic System Design within the Mechanical Engineering Technology Program

Based upon the feed-back from the industrial advisory board and needs of the local industry, the Engineering Technology Department in the Frank Batten College of Engineering & Technology at Old Dominion University has taken the initiative to develop an option within the existing Mechanical Engineering Technology program in the area of Mechatronics. Under this option, two new courses are being developed to meet the needs of local industry. For this purpose, an Introduction to Mechatronics course was developed and integrated into Mechanical Engineering Technology curriculum in the fall 2012 as a senior elective option choice. A second course, Mechatronics System Design is being planned as a follow-up course. In this paper, we present the motivation behind the development of these courses and the developmental effort that has gone in creating these senior electives for providing new competencies needed by industry and our future program graduates.

Trends in Mechatronic Engineering and Education

This paper outlines the emergence of mechatronic engineering as a distinct professional activity and area of study. Current and future trends in mechatronic engineering and the educational needs of its practitioners are discussed.

What is Mechatronics and why teach it

Despite a world-wide interest in mechatronics education, there is no clear and consistent understanding of what mechatronics is, nor how, and at what level, it should be taught. The key challenge for mechatronics course designers is seen as that of ensuring an appropriate balance between depth and breadth while providing opportunities to enable students to practise integration. The paper discusses this in relation to a number of mechatronic themes. Factors influencing the design, structure and content of a mechatronics programme are discussed and suggestions made as to the possible core content of such a programme.

Teaching mechatronics engineering a challenge of the new century

One of the branches of the Engineering that more influences on the construction of our modern world is certainly MECHATRONIC ENGINEERING. Many definitions of Mechatronic exist, but more or less all talks about the technological integration of the mechanics, the electronics and computer science. A Mechatronic Engineer is a professional able to develop and to manage mechatronic systems, contributing to the development of the country by means of improvement of the industries for the profit of productive standards of worldwide class. Nowadays numerous challenges for the education of Mechatronics exist, among them are the following: The design and the putting in practice of the control continue being something own of the dominion of the specialist in controls. The controls and the electronics still are seeing like "additions" to the processes or equipments. Very few engineers of the industrial practice realize any class of physical and/or mathematical modeling. The mathematics is a matter considered more like an obstacle than like a matter that extends the capacities of the engineer. Very few engineers have the suitable balance between the analysis and hardware; essential for the success in Mechatronics. How to obtain the suitable balance between the knowledge of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Computation and Automatic control for the suitable formation of a Mechatronic Engineer who satisfies the increasing demands of the industrial development and the abilities that are required for this specialist. In the present work answers for these and other questions are offered.