Introducing Temperature Measurement and Control Techniques to Engineering Undergraduate Students in the Gulf Region

Hands-on laboratory skills play a vital role in providing students with a sound understanding of the scientific fundamentals and their application in solving real-life engineering problems. One of the essential laboratory based courses taught at our Institute is Introduction to Measurements and Instrumentation. The design and implementation of such a course has been well documented in Western engineering education, but presents specific challenges in the Gulf region due to economical, social and cultural factors. This paper discusses the adaptation of corresponding Western courses to undergraduate mechanical engineering studies in the Gulf region. Laboratory exercises for temperature measurement and control are described, which consist of four modules, each building upon the other. In each module, students learn how to design an accurate measuring system, and process and interpret collected data. In the first module, the students are required to build a thermocouple reader using an AD620 instrumentation amplifier and to compare measurements with NIST reference tables. The second module is an introduction to LabVIEW, a graphical data acquisition programming language. The students are required to write a LabVIEW program to record multiple thermocouple signals from a heated plate under varying convective cooling conditions, using a high resolution temperature logger with on-board signal conditioning. The third and fourth modules focus on temperature control techniques. In the third laboratory exercise, the students are required to construct an electrical circuit using a low-power PCB relay and NPN bipolar transistor to develop a bang-bang linear temperature controller. The program created in module two is modified to have the heater operation automatically controlled for a fixed temperature set point. In module four, the students replace the bang-bang controller built in the previous lab with a commercially available PID controller and explore the differences between PID and linear temperature control systems. For each module, students are required to submit a formal report covering the theoretical background, the experimental procedure employed, uncertainty analysis, and conclusions and recommendations. An effective teaching strategy is outlined that covers the fundamental concepts of temperature measurement and control through carefully designed experiments, with sample results presented. Emphasis is placed on the tailoring of the course topics to engineering education in the Gulf region.

Innovation in Curriculum Development for Manufacturing Education

To obtain a degree in manufacturing, students traditionally faced with a decision to either join a manufacturing engineering or manufacturing technology program. Normally they make their decision based on several factors such as: the employability at that time, degree of difficulties, the degree plan and its suitability to their current living style, etc. One of the main factor that has a large weight in making their decision is the amount of math. involved in each degree. Students with less desire to get involved in the theoretical engineering science normally join the technology track while the rest join the engineering track. In this research a new degree called manufacturing engineering Technologies is proposed. The purpose of the new degree is to produce a super quality graduate who is capable of handling both the theoretical and the practical aspects in the manufacturing environment. This degree is not intended to compromise between manufacturing engineering and manufacturing technology, it is rather intended to generate a higher quality graduate. Traditionally, manufacturing engineering education focuses on the theoretical, mathematics, and experimentation aspect while manufacturing technology focuses on how to use, mange, maintain the different engineering tools and systems. The proposed degree is intended to produce a graduate that is capable of handling the theoretical and the practical issues very well. The expected performance of this graduate is to be a leader in product and system R&D, cost reduction and innovation initiatives.

A Research Roadmap Toward a Holistic and Structured Top-Down Concept Selection Methodology

In the field of human cognition, thinking consists of problem-solving and decision-making. In cognitive thinking, top-down processing is an approach used by experts that enables them to solve problems and make decisions efficiently. This paper attempts to apply cognitive top-down thinking process to the concept evaluation of systems and their components. In the top-down concept evaluation approach, engineers first evaluate system concepts. Once a system concept is selected, engineers then identify system components (modules) that they can design independently for the chosen system concept. Engineers generate concepts for system modules and select one concept for each module. The objective of this paper is first to identify characteristics needed for a holistic and structured top-down concept evaluation methodology for a system and its components, and second to propose a research roadmap for establishing the proposed framework.

The Ultimate Experience in Learning Robotics: Building Robots in a Robotics Course

Most engineering schools currently include a curriculum component that introduces students to the field of robotics. Multiple methods and techniques are used by engineering educators to help students gain familiarity and interest in robotic systems and their applications. However, very rarely the students get the opportunity to gain the ultimate experience of applying acquired knowledge of the field through building an actual robot. This is because building a robot during a college course involves multiple challenges including robotic systems high complexity and the requirement of combining multiple knowledge bases. Students studying robotics end up, at the most, programming purchased robots, or simulating robots using software, but not actually going through the realities and challenges of putting the system together and making it functional to the point of experimenting with it. In this paper, a unique experience in learning robotic systems and building actual robots is presented. This experience is made available in an elective course on robotic systems engineering at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), School of Engineering (SOE). The produced robots are two or three jointed arm configuration robots, controlled by a programmable microcontroller and built based on classroom gained knowledge. In the classroom, the students learn the kinematics and simplified dynamics of robots, as well as other related topics. In the laboratory, the students are required to apply the learned concepts of kinematics and design in combination with control systems to build a robot that will help them understand and demonstrate these concepts. The course final projects include robotic systems that are built or integrated by teams of students. These projects provide a range of challenges that extends from mechanical design to control systems. The projects are taken up by teams of students having diversified interests and skill bases within the course. The final outcomes of the course are working robotic systems that can demonstrate the students’ knowledge and interest, which the students use significantly as a proof of their competence level when putting together their resumes to move into the next level of their careers. From an educational angle, the course provides the students with an opportunity to combine multiple knowledge sets, skills, and interest to gain the ultimate experience in education: producing a functional system to specifications.

A Design Tool for Distributed Concept Development

This paper provides an overview of a database tool to support collaborative concept development in an asynchronous, distributed design environment. This paper will illustrate how an ideation method, such as as brainstorming, can be applied to a desired set of functions for a new design. The result of the brain-storming session for each articulated function can then be used in conjunction with a collaborative weighted voting tool to develop a rank-ordered morphological chart of the design space. A case study will be presented to illustrate how the information and knowledge generated in a prior working session by a design group can be introduced into a subsequent design session. The case study will illustrate how knowledge can be effectively transferred from one design project to the next, and preserve design intent over time.

Development of a Product Development Lab Course: Application of Theoretical, FEA and Experimental Techniques

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental techniques based laboratory courses are used in the mechanical engineering curriculum to equip students with numerical and experimental abilities to solve design problems. Review of mechanical engineering curricula in US universities found no definite structure for the numerical and experimental based laboratory courses to support the core courses. Also, the authors found that due to lack of knowledge about the application of finite element analysis and lack of collaboration of experimental laboratories in the universities and colleges, students are unable to apply theory, numerical tool and experiment, when it comes to complete product design. To be effective product development engineers, students have to know how to use these engineering tools effectively for various mechanical systems to design a product with perfection. This motivated the authors to develop, teach, and evaluate a laboratory course before the senior design project, where students will have hands on experience with product design. The application of theoretical, numerical and experimental techniques, and their interconnectedness, will also be addressed in this new course. The main three learning objectives of this course were: (1) the ability to apply physical and mathematical models to analyze or design the mechanical systems; (2) the ability to use numerical tools (e.g., FEA) and a fundamental understanding of the limitations of such tools; and (3) the ability to correlate the theoretical knowledge with FEA and experimental findings. Some of the issues observed from the previously taught FEA laboratory related course are: (1) students do not understand how to use FEA tools in practical design problems; (2) students are unable to relate the theory with numerical and experimental result; (3) students do not understand the importance of verification of numerical results; and (4) students with knowledge of a particular analysis background have problems setting up the product design requirements dealing with different analysis systems. To overcome these difficulties, the proposed course will select design problems related to heat, fluid, vibration, and fracture and examine the overall design process including preliminary design, material selection, manufacturing, analysis, and testing. Simulating the complexity of “real world” engineering will prepare students for their senior design projects. The main benefits of this course are: (1) application of theoretical, numerical, and experimental techniques to solve a design problem, and (2) hands on experience with design problems.

Grading Rubrics for Engineering Presentations and Reports

Rubrics for grading technical presentations and reports are presented. The rubrics are easy to use because the skills are judged as met standard or did not meet standard (check or minus; pass or fail). Each standard is detailed and presented with a strategy to recognize its successful completion.

Simulation, Design, and Implementation Based Undergraduate Research in Control Systems: Nonlinear Before Linear

A typical undergraduate curriculum introduces linear control systems concepts only, often in a single elective course. This curriculum structure introduces challenges to student involvement in control systems research as nonlinear concepts are the focus of the majority of such efforts. With undergraduate participation in engineering research steadily increasing, nonlinear control concepts must be introduced prior to formal classroom study of linear systems. Given this reality, we propose an intense and relatively brief research program, consisting of three distinct phases. The program objective is to present a targeted educational experience in nonlinear control theory based upon the design and implementation of control laws developed for a particular nonlinear system class. Given significant interaction between the student and the faculty mentor, we believe that an excellent opportunity in undergraduate education and research will be realized, despite the student’s initial unfamiliarity with nonlinear control systems concepts. A research program consisting of three phases is proposed and initial technical results are presented to facilitate a candid discussion of the issues that may prevent undergraduate participation in research and to detail the manner in which many of these obstacles were overcome.

An Internet-Based Quality Control Laboratory via Integration of Remote Robotic Operation and Nondestructive Ultrasound Evaluation

This paper discusses the integration of a remote robot laboratory with nondestructive ultrasound evaluation (NDE) experiments. A remotely automated quality inspection system is designed to analyze dimensions as well as detect internal flaws of parts via an Internet-based NDE system. The remote quality inspection system includes: Internet controllable robot via Ethernet connection, multiple Web-cameras, Ultrasonic Automatic Flaw Detector, LabVIEW module, and computers with Internet access capable of remote connection. The uniqueness of the project lies in making this process Internet-based and remote robot operated. An Internet-based procedure such as the one we are developing will allow industrial companies involved in NDE procedures to increase productivity and profits by allowing an employee to monitor multiple operations over the Internet without having to be at a specified location. In addition, the utilization of remotely controlled robots for educational purposes is expected to increase the degree of immersive presence of the students engaging in such Internet-based laboratory exercises as well as the level of online interactivity between the faculty and students.

Complete Design of a VTOL UAV by a Large Group of Students

This paper deals with the complete design and implementation of a small unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in the framework of a project course for engineers. This project takes place within an international contest organised by the french defence and aerospace agency. The objective is to design an autonomous air vehicle that will be able to be operated by soldiers on the battlefield, with embedded sensors and camera, which will be able to explore an urban environment, and detect targets or threads such as snipers. Our team won the first edition of the contest two year ago and is again selected with eleven other teams to take part in the new challenge next year. Our way of running this project is quite unusual on the education point of view for several reasons. In the challenging scientific area of aerospace engineering, an entire vehicle (mechanical parts as well as electronic parts) is designed, manufactured, tested and operated by students, thus involving a lot of students of different background. For instance, mechatronics students are coordinating the project, helped by students in mechanical engineering, fluid mechanics, composite structures, manufacturing, topography, physics and electronics. The main challenge is to coordinate large groups of students of different faculties and different levels, as there are more than 40 students working on the same project at the same time. The group of students studying mechatronics is currently working on this project since September 2006 and will go on until they graduate in june 2009. The aerodynamics structure is an elliptic wing within a 70 cm diameter sphere. The UAV should take of and land vertically and then fly horizontally. This challenging transition between vertical and horizontal flight is currently under study and has been carried out successfully by another team operating a more classical airplane. Moreover, the project organisation and design process is currently analysed and deals as a case study for researchers in the area of engineering design. This is also interesting as it is generally not possible to analyse the entire design process in an industrial environment. The technical aspects of the project as well as the project organisation, collaborative design tools and project management tools will be presented. The success and failures of the project organisation will be explained and the analysis from problem base learning point of view commented.