Abstract
This paper describes an approach taken to undergraduate laboratories in Mechatronics. A sequence of six laboratories culminate with an apparatus that involves the microprocessor control of a floating ping-pong ball. The apparatus consists of a cooling fan (taken from a PC) located at the base of a vertical tube (in which the ping-pong ball levitates) and an ultrasonic sensor at the top of the tube (to measure the height of the ball). The apparatus was found to be an invaluable supplement to the theory taught in the classroom, and in particular in the areas of microprocessor programming and interfacing, areas that are traditionally foreign to Mechanical Engineering students. Student experience with this apparatus relative to a much more expensive computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) assembly cell available in another course is considered. It is argued that the ping-pong ball apparatus better embodies the underlying principles of mechatronic system design, relative to the formal CIM assembly cell.
Published Version
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