Mechatronics Education at the University of Illinois

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the College of Engineering Mechatronics Laboratory at the University of Illinois and an associated course, Introduction to Mechatronics. The Mechatronics Laboratory is a shared facility in our College of Engineering; part of the network of shared laboratories that we have developed to support courses in dynamics and control systems at the University of Illinois. The course and laboratory are designed to give students practical experience in computer interfacing, real-time programming, sensing, actuation, and control system design, as well as to serve as a springboard to higher level concepts in dynamics and intelligent control, such as nonlinear and hybrid control, machine learning, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and discrete-event systems.