ENME489B: Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering; Entrepreneurial Design Realization

The field of mechatronics integrates dynamical systems, transducers, computation, control, and design to realize systems where complexity is shifted from solely mechanical components to a merging of mechanics with the electronic and software domains. This project-driven course will provide a structured hands-on environment to strengthen students’ understanding of mechatronics principles introduced in ENME 350/351, and extend these concepts to the Internet of Things (IoT) in which sensors and actuators are embedded into physical objects together with wireless communications, enabling remote interaction with these objects through the Internet. Students will learn about the Raspberry Pi (RPi) computing platform, wireless communication using the RPi, Python code development, and various Web-based protocols for data transfer and communication, while also gaining experience with digital circuit development and mechatronics design. Students will then explore a sequence of defined in-class labs and hands-on design projects combining these skills. The course will progress through an overview of electrical, mechanical, computing, and software systems relevant to mechatronics and IoT, in-class labs integrating a variety of sensor, actuator, computing, and communications technologies into IoT objects, and projects that will allow students to demonstrate mastery of the course materials. Performance on the two design projects will result in an assessment of interim and final mastery of course materials. As part of all projects, students will be required to explain the detailed operation of their hardware and software to demonstrate understanding.