Hands-on projects are focus of Mechatronic Systems class

Students in professor Jonathan Fiene’s Design of Mechatronic Systems class do in a week what other engineers do in two months.

The course in the School of Engineering and Applied Science centers around a sequence of projects ranging from the design and creation of infrared tracking devices to wireless mobile robots.

The curriculum includes aspects of mechanical, electrical and computer science engineering through hands-on projects that give students an introduction to the fundamental components within each of the three domains.

A record number of students are enrolled this semester — 60, rather than the usual 30 — causing students to sit on the floor between desks on the first day. Due to fire code violations, the class was later moved to a larger lecture hall.

Mechatronics “are all around us,” Fiene said, explaining the increase in enrollment. “More and more of our world is now using electromechanical systems.”

The class comprises mostly upper-level and graduate students studying mechanical engineering. There were only six women out of the about 40 students present in lecture on Wednesday.

Fiene asked students to take out their latest projects — LEDs, or light-emitting diodes — and turned off the lights while the devices flashed different colored lights.

Later in the class, he revealed their next task: designing a two-wheeled, self-balancing robot in a week.

“In case you were worried that you’d have some downtime, you don’t anymore,” joked Fiene.

At least one of the students was daunted by this task.

“One of my friends has been working on something like this for two months, and you want us to do it in a week?” he asked.

“Well, there’s no homework assignment for the week,” Fiene responded.

Fiene described this semester’s students as being “particularly thirsty.”

Engineering senior Stephen McGill, who is in the class, described it as “exhilarating” despite the huge work load.

“We’re designing our own systems from the ground, and we’ve already accomplished a lot this semester,” he said.

“I really do like the class, and it had been highly recommended by students who took it last year,” said Monica Thomas, another Engineering senior in the class. “I’ve worked in labs during the summer, and this class supplied the missing piece for me in terms of the information I hadn’t had before.”

“We’re trying to keep up with the latest and the greatest,” Fiene said before the class.

Throughout the lecture, students and Fiene discussed the use of USB ports, accelerometers — devices that measure the acceleration they experience relative to free fall — and interrupts — signals indicating the need for a change in execution in software.

“This class definitely keeps me going,” Fiene said, and the students will stay pretty busy for the rest of the week, too.

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