Author's personal copy Using mechatronics to teach mechanical design and technical communication Joshua Vaughan a , Joel Fortgang a , William Singhose a, * , Jeffrey Donnell a , Thomas Kurfess b a The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States Received 9 October 2006; accepted 14 January 2008 Abstract It is commonly accepted that hands-on experiences increase both learning and enjoyment during coursework. Mechatronics projects provide both interesting and relevant hands-on experiences for a wide range of topics including design processes, basic mechatronics concepts, technical communication, and working in a group environment. ME2110: Creative Decisions and Design at Georgia Tech inte- grates mechatronics and technical communication into a sophomore level mechanical design class. This paper describes the course in detail, highlighting the course goals and layout, tools provided to the students, industry involvement, and the main challenges of admin- istering such a course. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Mechatronics education; Mechanical design; Technical communication 1. Introduction Mechatronics is a discipline that combines elements from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. Given its cross disciplinary nature, it is typically reserved for graduate or upper-level undergradu- ate courses [1–5]. This trend may be beginning to change as schools introduce mechatronics centered curricula [6–10]. However, it is generally believed that beginning engineering students are usually too inexperienced to handle mecha- tronics concepts. While this may be true for advanced mechatronics, the basic elements of the topic can easily be grasped by undergraduate students [11–14] and even high school students [15,16]. One subject in which mechatronics naturally serves as a vehicle for course material is mechanical design. Students can be taught traditional mechanical design techniques, such as planning tools, evaluation matrices, and functional decomposition through the use of mechatronic examples and projects. The inclusion of mechatronic projects benefits students, who are able to practice the design concepts that they have been taught, while forming a strong foundation in mechatronics principles. The projects are also rewarding, as they often afford the students their first opportunity to design and build a computer-controlled machine. However, the integration of mechatronics projects into the course poses significant challenges for the faculty. For example, the basic mechatronic concepts, such as electric motor operation and control system programming, must be taught in addition to the mechanical design material. Such a course also provides an opportunity to integrate oral and written technical communication with a two-fold benefit for the students. First, the students practice the basic tasks of describing and presenting designs. Second, in presenting the design tools used to develop their designs, the students display their understanding of the course material, allowing instructors to revisit those topics that the students have not mastered. Large mechatronics pro- jects provide experience with documenting a complete design process, including discussion of the traditional design and concept evaluation tools. Mechatronics projects 0957-4158/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2008.01.003 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 404 385 0668; fax: +1 404 894 9342. E-mail address: singhose@gatech.edu (W. Singhose). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Mechatronics 18 (2008) 179–186