Mechatronics 12 (2002) 241±249Using mechatronics in early designThomas R. Kurfess *, John G. WitzelThe George W. Woodru School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology,Atlanta, GA 30332-0405, USAAbstractThis paper presents the results of integrating mechatronics into a large second year design course. Issues related to course objectives, implementation, costs and results from a curricu- lum perspective are presented. The systems developed for this course are the result of three years of system design and modi®cation. The results of this paper demonstrate that for re- alistic costs and eorts, mechatronics can be integrated into a sophomore level design class that services approximately 300 students per year. Furthermore, results from the senior level capstone design course indicate that the use of mechatronics permeates throughout the stu- dents' career. Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionMechatronics is a buzzword that can be seen in a wide variety of curricula throughout the world. It is the combination of mechanical and electronic system design and implementation. The reality is that most engineers work in the world of mechatronics, as there are relatively few systems that are purely mechanical or electronic. The diculty facing our students is that electromechanical system design and implementation is not taught until advanced courses in the undergraduate curriculum. All to often, these courses are elective courses and are not taken by all of the students. To address this curricular shortcoming, the design course taken by second year students in the Woodru School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech has been enhanced to incorporate a hands-on mechatronics experience.To fully prepare students for industrial environments, they must be capable of addressing a variety of basic issues in electromechanical system design and im-*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-404-894-0301; fax: +1-404-894-9342. E-mail address: thomas.kurfess@me.gatech.edu (T.R. Kurfess).0957-4158/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 5 7 - 4 1 5 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 4 - 2242T.R. Kurfess, J.G. Witzel / Mechatronics 12 (2002) 241±249plementation. The course provides a platform to accomplish this task. Targeted at mechanical engineering students, it provides them with the necessary electronics control background to address a variety of situations in the real world.Since the students design and build their electromechanical devices, they are af- forded the opportunity to actually receive some hands-on experience in machining and electronic assembly. As this is the ®rst design course taken by the students, it provides them with some motivation for their other courses during the remainder of their years at Georgia Tech. It also provides a strong platform for their more ad- vance design and laboratory courses yielding better-prepared engineers.2. The electrical interface systemThe controller or ``system brains'' employed, is a basic stamp 2SX (BS2SX) (see Fig. 1). It is based on a peripheral interface controller (PIC) chip that is typically found on appliances such as microwave ovens and washing machines. The BS2SX is capable of executing approximately 10,000 instructions per second and is designed to be a simple tool for controlling electrical systems. The electrical interface system (EIS) was designed in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech as the foundation by which the students can make use of the BS2SX. The Mark III EIS, shown in Fig. 2, is the third generation of the unit and is the result of three years of ®eld testing and redesigning the system. It consists of a single printed circuit (PC) board that was designed and populated at Georgia Tech. The BS2SX is directly integrated into the PC board. The design for the board is completely electronic (using a standard CAD system) and is readily replicated via a variety of PC board manufacturing techniques. A description of the lessons learned with respect to hardware is presented later in this paper.The EIS is powered by two, 6 V lead acid batteries located beneath the board. Students are supplied with a trickle charger to keep the batteries charged. The EIS is programmed in a Windows environment using free software supplied by theFig. 1. The basic stamp.T.R. Kurfess, J.G. Witzel / Mechatronics 12 (2002) 241±249243Fig. 2. The Mark III EIS.producer of the BS2SX. The EIS is connected to the programming computer either via a serial port or via an RF link that is integrated into the system. The RF link enables real-time debugging without the worry of a cable connection.2.1. Actuators and sensorsPresently, the actuators employed by the students include two stepper motors, two DC motors, two solenoids and two shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. The system batteries store enough energy to permit several hours of testing and opera- tion. Thus, the students are instructed to charge their batterie。