First-Time Experience of Teaching a Project-Based Mechatronics Course

The Department of Engineering and Computer Science at York College of Pennsylvania developed a new Mechatronics course for sophomore mechanical engineering students. The objective of this course is to introduce essential aspects of electronics so that mechanical engineering (ME) students can design and build basic electro-mechanical systems. This course adopted lecture-lab format to provide necessary circuit analysis background. Handson laboratory exercises designed to incorporate electrical circuit components, circuit analysis (AC and DC), sensors and actuators, and microcontrollers. Students also learned how to create simple electro-mechanical devices using basic components. During the latter half of the semester, students were tasked with group projects to design, build, and test electro-mechanical systems. These projects aimed to bring mechanical engineering, electronics, and computer control together. This paper describes the first-time experience of developing the course and managing student projects. This paper also presents students’ feedback regarding the course and highlights student projects with testing and fabrication results.