Advanced Mechatronics Projects
Description
Advanced Mechatronics Projects challenges students to apply everything they have learned to the development of complete engineering machines.
Instead of focusing on individual concepts, students work through the architecture of real manufacturing equipment and discover how mechanics, electronics, motion systems, controllers, drivers, software, and fabrication processes must operate together.
Students design mechanical structures, build controlled motion axes, integrate Stepper Motors and Drivers, develop electronic control systems, configure machine movement, and calibrate the final system for accuracy.
Through building a CNC Router, Laser Cutting Machine, and 3D Printer, students discover that machines with very different applications can share similar engineering foundations.
The course represents the transition from building projects to building machines that can manufacture other products.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand the architecture of digital manufacturing machines.
- Break complex machines into mechanical, electronic, and software subsystems.
- Understand linear and rotational motion systems.
- Design controlled motion axes.
- Integrate Stepper Motors and Motor Drivers.
- Understand multi-axis motion.
- Design mechanical machine structures.
- Integrate shafts, bearings, couplers, guides, and motion components.
- Understand machine coordinate systems.
- Understand the concept of machine Homing.
- Understand End Stops and motion limits.
- Build and wire machine control electronics.
- Understand basic machine calibration.
- Identify mechanical sources of positioning error.
- Improve motion accuracy through testing and calibration.
- Understand the fundamental operating principle of CNC machines.
- Understand the fundamental operating principle of Laser Cutting Machines.
- Understand the fundamental operating principle of FDM 3D Printers.
- Integrate mechanics, electronics, control, and software into a complete machine.
- Test, troubleshoot, calibrate, and improve complex mechatronic systems.