Teaching Multidisciplinary Design To Engineering Students: Robotics Capstone

Abstract

Robotics Engineering (RBE) is a new undergraduate degree program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). As of the fall semester of 2008, the program is the fourth largest discipline at the institution in terms of freshman enrollment. At the core of the curriculum are four signature courses called Unified Robotics I-IV. The educational objective of these courses is to introduce students to the multidisciplinary theory and practice of robotics engineering, integrating the fields of computer science, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. In addition to taking these and other courses, it is a requirement that all WPI undergraduates, regardless of discipline, complete a senior-level project in their major field of study called Major Qualifying Project (MQP). This paper discusses the capstone design experience within the context of our new RBE degree program. Topics covered include the problem of teaching multidisciplinary design to senior engineering students working on solving real-world problems engineering design problems and a discussion of our capstone design evaluation criteria, particularly as it applies to a multidisciplinary program. Finally, learning outcomes specifically designed for the senior-design and sample projects completed by robotics engineering students that illustrate our approach to designing this new robotics engineering program at the undergraduate level are presented.