Meeting The Needs Of Industry: Development Of A Microcontroller Course For Mechanical Engineers

A course was developed at the UNLV to address the needs of local industry. The course was designed to acquaint mechanical engineering students with the principles and use of microcontrollers for measurement and control. Hastings’ Chariots, a Las Vegas-based rocket company, expressed a need for mechanical engineers with knowledge in integrating sensors with microcontrollers used to control microgravity experiments. A biomedical company in Las Vegas also indicated the need for graduates trained in the use of this same microcontroller. The microcontroller employed by both companies was also used on a research project at the university in assessing radionuclide concentrations in pipes. This system is shown in figure 1. Although mechanical engineering students have coursework in measurements, controls, and Fortran or C programming, they have little familiarity with microcontrollers. In response to the needs of our research program and local industry in Las Vegas, the mechanical engineering department developed a microcontroller course based on the BASIC Stamp II manufactured by Parallax, Inc. In lieu of a textbook, students in the course purchased a microcontroller kit that contained an extensive manual, PC connection cable, and a processor with motherboard. The course included instruction in BASIC programming, data acquisition, sensors, and computer communication. Numerical methods useful for analyzing data acquired by the microcontroller were also covered. Students completed two design projects in the course. Each student designed and constructed a weather station that integrated several sensors with the BASIC