A Bottom Up Approach to Teaching Mechatronics

Zvi Shiller and Sigal Berman

Department of Mechanical Engineering-Mechatronics
The College of Judea and Samaria
Ariel, Israel
shiller@yosh.ac.il, sigalbWyosh.ac.il

I. ABSTRACT develop an intuitive understanding of electronics, which is

This paper describes a new teaching program in mecha- otherwise quite difficult for mechanical engineers.
The importanceofof hands-on experience for forg
tronics at the College of Judea and Samaria, designed to unerairn seve
high level therie ncepgaining an
provide students with knowledge and skills in mechanics, ndet understandng hgh
of theoretical concepts and for
electronics, computers, and their integration. The curricu- c epte [2],r[3],d[4.We advoctegthe aitional wimportanc
lum consists of a basic program in Mechanical Engineering, . . ' . '
augmented with courses and laboratories in electronics of gaining intimate knowledge of the low level system
and computers that are offered early in the program.
components through
upaproachs an eabling experience,ck
hands-on buing andforthe bottom
thebtru
The integration of the various disciplines is accomplished upnderstandng of the integratlon level concepts.
primarily through hands-on experience in the robotics Ther d of mehanics eleconcs,
and mechatronics laboratories. The early introduction of ide inttwol or cures:robics, and 'mehtero
m

electronics and computers brings students prepared to the icsde.

In both laboratores, we focus on hands-on experience
final capstone design project, in which students design and in. m boti contoro i-e gree -of sem Ter
build~~~~~~
wokn a mehtoi/ooi ytm n motion control of multi-degree-of-freedom systems. The
build awrigmcarncrbstudents start with the control of a single joint, then work
II. INTRODUCTION their way up to the coordination of two joints using a two
DOF planar mechanism. The robotics laboratory empha-
A new undergraduate program in mechatronics was sizes analog control, whereas the mechatronics laboratory
established four years ago at the College of Judea and focuses on digital control. In both laboratories, the ex-
Samaria in response to a growing need for mechanical periments include dynamic modeling of electromechanical
engineers with a multidisciplinary background in mechan- systems and experimental validation.
ics, electronics, and computers [1]. The graduates of this This experience brings the students prepared to the
program are expected to serve as independent designers, or capstone design project, in which students design and build
as project leaders, of mechatronic/robotic systems, in the a working mechatronic/robotic system to solve a specific
growing high-tech industry in Israel. problem given to the entire class. To encourage a free
Establishing a new Department of Mechanical flow of ideas, the design project is not a competition.
Engineering-Mechatronics, dedicated to mechatronics, Instead, students are encouraged to improve their designs
represented a unique opportunity to fashion the curriculum by exchanging ideas in several brain storming sessions.
after the specific needs of the mechatronics program. The culmination of the design process in a working system
The degree offered is B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering- requires students to integrate what they have learned, and
Mechatronics. The degree name reflects an emphasis demonstrate solid engineering judgment in the multidisci-
on Mechanical Engineering, chosen to ensure that plinary subjects of the mechatronics program. The students
the graduates gain a solid background in one of the thus complete their undergraduate education equipped with
traditional engineering fields, and can register in one of practical experience and an in depth understanding of the
the professional engineering organizations. operation and implementation of mechatronics systems,
Mechatronics related courses are introduced early in augmented with their classical mechanical engineering
the curriculum to allow students to learn and practice the training.
multidisciplinary subjects before they reach the capstone 1. CURRICULUM
design project in the senior year. The mechatronics subjects
are taught and demonstrated with robotics applications The curriculum in mechatronics was designed to provide
in mind, since robots represent the ultimate mechatronic students with the analytical and experimental skills to
system. This requires a solid background in software devel- independently design and maintain mechatronic and robotic
opment, usually neglected in other mechatronics programs. systems. This entails knowledge not only in mechanics and
In addition, the program emphasizes hands-on experience electronics, as is usually emphasized in most mechatronics
in electronic circuits by having students construct the cir- programs, but also in software engineering. Our program
cuits they need in lieu of using pre-assembled development is thus based on a core in Mechanical Engineering, with
kits. This emphasis on hands-on experience helps students emphasis on mechanical systems, and two minor tracks

1-4244-9713-4/06/$20.OO ©2006 IEEE 377

 ICM 2006 * IEEE 3rd International Conference on Mechatronics

Year Mechanical En Electronics Cornuters Mechatronics

I Phfsics I Physics 2 C programming
M aterial Eng_
II Statics Analog electronics Data structures Linear systems
Dynamics +Lab & al orithms
TIhermodynamics Digital electronic
Heat transfer +Lab
Fluid dynamics
Strength of materials 1
III Manufa turing Signal processing Microprocessors Control
MechanicalI systems +lab Robotics
Strength of materials 2 Operating Robotics lab.
Mechanical design systems ,__
IV 5 Electives Mechatronics lab.
C apstone project

Fig. 1. The Tracks in Mechatronics Fig. 2. One Axis Device and PID Controller

in electronics and computer hardware and software engi-

neering. The tracks in electronics and computers progress
parallel to the core program, as shown in Figure 1, so
that the students gradually acquire skills in both fields
towards their integration in the final capstone project. The
inclusion of the two tracks in electronics and computers
does not diminish the scope of the core in mechanical
engineering. This is accomplished by reducing the number
of the elective courses to a minimum. The program thus
ensures that the graduates can be hired both as mechanical
and as mechatronics engineers.
The electronics track starts with a physics course in 0 u2 0 p3 an dgt eco s
the freshmen year, followed by two courses and two
laboratories in analog and digital electronics. The early Fig. 3. One Axis Graphic Interface
introduction of analog and digital electronics brings the
students prepared to the subsequent courses on sensors and
actuators, and on microprocessors, both given in the junior robotics and mechatronics. The robotics laboratory empha-
year. sizes classical control and robotics, using analog electron-
The computers track consists of at least one course every ics, whereas the mechatronics laboratory focuses on dig-
year: it starts with C++ programming, which is then used ital control using microprocessors and digital electronics.
in the next course on data structures and algorithms. The Unlike most programs in mechatronics, we do not offer a
following course on operating systems teaches students theoretical mechatronics course, because the related topics
about the connection between computer software and hard- are taught in depth in dedicated courses in the electronics
ware. Computer programming is practiced again in the and computers tracks. This knowledge is then integrated
microprocessors laboratory, and then in the robotics and through hand-on experience in the advanced robotics and
mechatronics laboratories. The microprocessors course and mechatronics laboratories.
lab focus on the "Microchip" processors. In addition to In the final capstone design project the students, in
learning how to program these chips, students build the groups of two, design an build a mechatronic system
necessary interface circuits to electric motors (DC and (usually a robotic device) to accomplished a preassigned
stepper), analog and digital inputs, and serial communi- task. Here, the students are responsible for the mechanical
cations. Having to build the peripheral circuits rather than design, the electronic circuits, the microprocessor inter-
use a ready made development kit gives the students the facing, and the programming of the system. The project
necessary background to design the environment they need stretches over two semesters: the first is devoted to design,
in the subsequent mechatronics laboratory and in the final and the second to manufacturing and programming.
project. In the final project the students are required to
write software and develop algorithms to control the robotic IV. ROBOTICS LABORATORY
system they design.

and electrical components. The theoretical introduction robot. The lab ends with a project that demonstrates the use
of electromechanical systems is followed by a practical of feedback control of a toy car to accomplish a variety of
demonstration of mechatronics in two laboratory courses: tasks.

378

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Fig. 4. Two Axes Mechanism
st_p Ue[o]
Workspace oint
160;
=
140
140- 6
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=== = -50-O
40~
20-l
-6 4-0020400x i ia0 as
Fig. 5. Two Axes Graphic Interface
A. One axis
The single axis system, shown in Figure 2, consists of a
DC motor, a gear train, a disk that serves as the load on the
output shaft of the gear train, a 10 turn potentiometer that
senses the motor rotation, and another DC motor that serves
as a tachometer. The students build an analog op-amp PID
(Proportional, Integral, Derivative) circuit to control the
rotation of the output shaft. The control system receives a
step command from a PC that is running a graphic interface
that reads and displays two analog signals from the control
circuit (see Figure 3). The students derive the closed loop
transfer function of the electromechanical system, taking
into account the gains of the control system, the motor
parameters, the gear ratio, and the load inertia. They
then compute the step response of the transfer function,
using MATLABTM, for various gain values, and compare
the simulations to the experimental results. After gaining
experience with the effect of each gain on the transient
and steady state behavior of the system, the students use
root locus and other design techniques to select the best
gains to achieve a desired performance. In the process,
students gain confidence in using analog op-amp circuits to
implement simple control functions, gain practical insights
into classical control, and experience first hand the physical
power of control theory.
B. Two axes
The two axes system, shown in Figure 4, is a mini robot
that manipulates a pen. The device consists of a five bar
mechanism that is actuated by two DC motors. It is made
Z. Shiller, S. Berman * A Bottom Up Approach to Teaching Mechatronics
l~~~~~~~~~~~~of
I two single axis systems (from the previous experiment)
joined together. Bot are controlled byte analog PID
controller developed earlier. Each axis is commanded by
an analog signal generated by the computer via an analog
.11 1 I/O interface. The positions of both axes are fed back to
the computer for graphic display in the joint space and
the workspace of the five-bar mechanism, as shown in
Figure 5. The graphic interface has two motion options:
point to point, and trajectory. The first moves the system
_to a given point, specified in joint space or workspace.
Here students test the forward and inverse kinematics code
they wrote, investigate the mapping between joint space
and workspace, and examine the multiple solutions of the
two DOF mechanism.
The trajectory mode moves the mechanism to points
defined in a data file. The students generate the data using
any software of their choice (e.g. Excel). The resulting
E2
oin- trajectory is plotted on the screen, using the forward kine-
matics code written earlier, and plotted on a paper by a pen
attached to the tip of the five-bar mechanism. Comparing
000-1 ========:Ithe
ThOb'
0
two verifies the correctness of the kinematics code.
1Students
6>itaDl
12D also observe the quality of the resulting curve as
a function of the gains of the individual axes, the speed
along the path, and the location in the workspace.
C. Industrial Robot
This experiment provides students with the opportunity
to operate a full size industrial robot, write code in a
robot programming language, and observe the performance
of the robot compared to the performance of the more
basic two-axes system used earlier. The students program
the industrial robot to perform an assembly task and plot
several trajectories by attaching a pen to the robot gripper.
By moving the pen at different speeds and in different
regions of the workspace, students notice errors due to the
interpolation rate of the robot controller and due to the
dynamic coupling between the joints, and compare their
results to the two axes system they used before.
D. Project
This project involves the development of an analog
feedback controller to guide a toy car towards a bright light
or along a dark line drawn on the floor. The students are
given a remote control toy car that they instrument to detect
the light or dark line and autonomously drive towards the
goal. In the process, students choose the proper sensors,
develop the steering control function, and implement the
feedback controller. Accomplishing autonomous driving
with a simple analog controller is quite rewarding as it
demonstrates the power of feedback control and motivates
students to learn the more sophisticated digital control in
the next mechatronics laboratory.
V. MECHATRONICS LABORATORY
The Mechatronics laboratory serves as the main integra-
tion course of the various mechatronics topics studied in
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 ICM 2006 * IEEE 3rd International Conference on Mechatronics

previous ....
courses....
Following the. . . "analog" Robotics labora- .............
tory, the emphasis here is digital control and related periph-
erals, such as A/D and D/A conversion, sensors, actuators,
and the use of microprocessors for digital control.
True to the bottom-up approach of the program, the
students build the interfacing circuits on a breadboard. This
allows them to understand the problems associated with
system interfacing and the different roles of the system r_
components. The complexity of the built circuits is kept low
to balance the time spent wiring the circuits and the time
spent experimenting with them. Additionally, care is taken
to use circuits studied or developed in previous courses so
emphasis can be given to system integration rather then to
rewiring the circuits.
The laboratory is built around the PIGC18F243 1 Mi-
crochip microcontroller [5]. It was chosen for its built-
in encoder counter and a PWM interface, which makes it
suitable for motor control. The bottom up approach played
a major role in choosing this microcontroller over an expen-
sive integrated system such as the Rabbit microprocessor
[6]. The students build the control system from its basic
components so that they learn to construct the environment Fig. 6. Digital Control Circuit
that suits their specific needs.
The syllabus includes the following experiments:
D. Digital control
A. AID and DIA conversion In this experiment the students integrate the components
This experiment focuses on a sample and hold circuit, studied in the previous experiments and build a digital
connected to an anti aliasing filter. It is fairly simple to multi-axes controller. The experiment consists of two parts:
implement, yet it gives the students a feel of the data a) developing a single axis controller, and b) integrating
sampling process. The students build the system with a two single-axis controllers into a multi-axes system.
tunable sample period and experiment with various sam- The first part focuses on a digital PID controller for the
pling frequencies below and above the Nyquist frequency one-axis device described earlier. This includes the interfac-
of the input signals. They experience the effects of the filtering of the microcontroller with the hardware and computer,
by observing *sig*aat various frequencies. programing of the microcontroller, and modeling of the
entire system. A typical circuit developed by the students
is shown in Figure 6. The only difference between this
B. Sensors ......................
system and the one used earlier in the robotics laboratory
Here, the students experience working at various inte- is the optical encoder that replaces the potentiometer for
gration levels with a number of sensors, commonly used measuring the position of the output shaft. The students first
in robotic applications: light sensors, range sensors, and model the system, derive the digital closed loop transfer
machine vision. They build several light sensors based function, and use MATLABTMcontrol toolbox to generate
on a photo resistor, photo-diode, and photo-transistor, and the system step response. They then compare the simulated
examine the differences between the sensors with respect response to the response of the actual system using several
to signal amplification and response time. The students values of the PID gains.
also calibrate sonar-based range sensors and examine their The second part focuses on the two axes apparatus
beam width. In addition, they program machine vision shown in Figure 4. Here, students build a control system
algorithms using dedicated software (Vision Assistant by for point to point and trajectory following motions. For
National Instruments [7]). this part, the students receive a printed circuit with two
digital PID controllers, one for each axis, similar to the
C. Actuators * ...................... ............controller they ishad
~~~microcontroller developed
designated in main
as the the first part.controller,
system A third
Here, the students build a motor driver for a stepper ............programmedto coordinate the two single axis controllers
motor, chosen for its seamless integrated into digital control ............and
interface the system with a master computer. The
systems. The students build an indexer and an H-bridge ............master computer sends workspace position commands to
interface and test its operation in full and half steps under ............the
main controller. The latter then computes the joint
several load conditions. The motor position is monitored ............angles,
using the inverse kinematics routines developed
using a shaft encoder. ............earlier in the robotics laboratory, and sends them to the

380
 Z. Shiller, S. Berman * A Bottom Up Approach to Teaching Mechatronics

two single axis controllers. REFERENCES

The two parts of the experiment expose the students to [1] Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills, "'The End of The M.E.?,"'
the full cycle of robot development, from the initial assem- Mechanical Engineering Magazine, May 2005, pp. 26-29.
bly of electronic circuits and mechanical components, to [2] R. Siegwart, "Grasping the interdisciplinarity of mechatronics",
[3] oIEEE
Robotics and Automation Magazine, Jun. 2001, pp 27-34.
the fully operational system In a true bottom up process.
the fl pan st iau K. Craig, "Is anything really new in mechatronics education?",
The use of the mechanisms from the robotics laboratory IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Jun. 2001, pp 12-19.
allows students to reuse code developed previously, and [4] s. das, M. Krishan, S. A. Yost, "Work in progress the out
compare both analog and digital control of the same btaao ad iilgrowth
of mechatronics curriculum development efforts: an under-
compare
graduate concentration in mechatronics", Proceedings of the 35th
systems to get a feel of the advantages and disadvantages ASEE/IEEE Conference on frontiers in Education, Oct. 2005, pp.
of both methods. In addition, this set up allows practicing F3F 7-8.
[5] www.microchip.com.
various robot control algorithms, such as resolved rate [6] www.rabbitsemiconductor.com.
control, implemented on the master computer. [7] www.ni.com/vision.
VI. CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECT
This senior design project integrates the various topics
studied in the mechatronics program. Here, students are
required to design and build a practical mechatronic system
that accomplishes a specified task. The task chosen this
year was a house cleaning automation. The emphasis is on
building a working system, where the first semester is dedi-
cated to a detailed design, and the second to manufacturing
and testing of the working system. In a guided learning
process, the students attend lectures that help them progress
through the design and building process. A common task
is given to the entire class to encourage students think of
original solutions to the given problem. While this may
encourage competition, we promote a free flow of ideas
by exposing the students and their designs to criticism
in several brain storming sessions. In these sessions, held
during the preliminary design phase of the project, fellow
students can criticize and suggest alternative solutions to
the project of the presenting group. This helps students
improve their designs and enhance their creative and critical
thinking.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
An innovative mechatronics program was established at
the College of Judea and Samaria four years ago. The
program was carefully constructed to expose students to the
mechatronics building blocks early in the curriculum, thus
facilitating their successful integration in the later stages
of the study program. The experience gained in handling
the low level components is invaluable in gaining the true
understanding of their operation in the integrated system.
The component integration and hardware implementation
of real mechatronic systems, like the one-axis and two-axes
devices used in the robotics and mechatronics laboratories,
helps students gain insight and understanding of theoretical
concepts in control theory, electrical circuitry, and mechan-
ical design. The emphasis in the capstone design project
on producing a working system encourages students to
integrate what they have learned, and demonstrate solid
engineering judgment in mechatronics.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The development of the Mechatronics program greatly
benefited from the generous support of Dr. David Paslin of
California.

381