Infusing Mechatronics and Robotics Concepts in Engineering Curriculum

摘要

Abstract Infusing Mechatronics and Robotics Concepts in Engineering CurriculumMechatronics and Robotics have continued to grow in importance in recent years which has led manycolleges and universities to start offering courses on these topics. A brand new technical elective course,“Introduction to Mechatronics”, was offered for the first time in spring 2012 at the author’s institution.While the course provides for ten weeks of instruction in Mechatronics, as an elective it does not reacha sufficient number of students. The author received a competitive grant internal to the institution for aproject to infuse mechatronics and robotics concepts and applications throughout the engineeringcurriculum. The project was completed during academic year 2011-12.Several hands-on modules were developed for three courses in the engineering curriculum, spanningthe entire freshman to senior experience. The modules were developed with “active learning” principlesin mind, to ensure students’ full participation in the learning process in the classroom. The author chosethe affordable and now widely adopted LEGO Mindstorms platform to illustrate basic mechatronicsconcepts and applications.The targeted courses were the freshman “Introduction to Engineering and Design” course, junior“Kinematics” course, and senior “Dynamic Systems and Control” course. The modules were deployed inthe three courses throughout the academic year, and were assessed using a variety of assessment toolsincluding rubrics and student surveys. In end-of-course surveys students expressed satisfaction with thehands-on modules and suggested ways to improve the experience. The paper will present the modulesdeveloped for the three courses, including learning objectives, hands-on activities, performance results,and survey data. Conclusions and future plans will be addressed.