Abstract
This paper presents a new mechatronics laboratory for students in the 5th semester of the mechatronics degree course at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It is the aim of this teaching event to sharpen the appreciation of synergy effects in the development of mechatronic systems among the students. Despite of the great freedom in the development process, a concept has been evolved, which causes low running costs due to the combination of a model kit with rapid prototyping methods. A first pilot study of the laboratory starting in the winter term 2014 has shown that the students approach the task despite of the high level of difficulty with fun and dedication, especially because of the wide solution space which was unknown for them from previous lectures.
Highlights
To meet the increasing integration of electronic and mechanical components and the resulting need for mechatronics engineers, a mechatronics degree course started at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in the winter term 2012
As a part of this laboratory, the development process of a mechatronic system should be experienced under industrial conditions, which includes the use of standard development tools and the distributed development with separate development teams
In contrast to the workshops presented in the previous chapters it is not our aim to educate engineers which can cover every area in a development process and are able to develop mechatronic products fully
Summary
In the first four semesters, the students are taught in core competencies in the fields of electrical engineering, information technology and mechanical engineering, which are applied in the last semester before the thesis in a lecture with connected laboratory that is planned and carried out by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology as well as by the Department of Mechanical Engineering This new joint approach of two departments should convey the core idea of mechatronics, namely the use of synergy effects in the system development. After the already existing mechatronics workshops of other universities were introduced and judged briefly in chapter II the new idea of the presented workshop is described Since this workshop will take place in the winter term 2014 for the first time, a pilot study was conducted with students to provide an initial evaluation
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