Mechatronic Control Engineering: A Problem Oriented and Project Based Learning Curriculum in Mechatronic

Mechatronics is a field of multidisciplinary engineering that not only require knowledge about different technical areas, but also insight into how to combine technologies optimally, to design efficient products and systems. This paper addresses the group project based and problem-oriented learning approach in relation to a mechatronic education, which makes it possible for the student to get in-depth skills in the area of mechatronics very fast. The trends and applications of mechatronic engineering and research are illustrated. Control engineering plays a central role in this context, where the well established methods from control engineering form very powerful techniques in both analysis and synthesis of mechatronic systems. The necessary skills for mechatronic engineers are outlined followed up by a discussion on how problem oriented project based learning is implemented. A complete curriculum named Mechatronic Control Engineering is presented, which is started at Aalborg University, Denmark, and the content of the semesters and projects are described. The projects are all characterized by the use of simulation and control for the purpose of analyzing and designing complex commercial systems of a strongly dynamic nature.