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This paper describes a multidisciplinary teaching program, designed to provide students with the broad knowledge and skills required to practice product development in robotics and mechatronics. The curriculum was designed to prepare students for the senior capstone design project, in which they design and build a working mechatronic/robotic system. It consists of a basic program in mechanical engineering, augmented with courses and laboratories in electronics, microprocessors, control, and computer programming. The early introduction of the specialty courses and the ample hands-on experience offered in the accompanying laboratories allows students to gain intuitive understanding of concepts that are usually foreign to mechanical engineers. The capstone design project attracts students to the program and serves as a beacon for the entire program. The program is now in its 11th year, receiving positive feedback from students and graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: A typical mechatronic product includes mechanical parts, software techniques, electrical and electronic components. This interdisciplinary character significantly increases the complexity of mechatronic products. Therefore, inefficient communication between the engineers, who come from different domains, becomes one of the main challenges in the development of mechatronic systems. Although, innovations in the field of virtual prototyping can help the engineers to handle a complex system and then accelerate the development processes, the technique itself does not offer a solution to the problem of multidisciplinary communications. In this paper, we present a practical solution of supporting knowledge sharing and communication within a multidisciplinary developing group, whose members need to work cooperatively for doing virtual prototyping of mechatronic systems in VR environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite a world-wide interest in mechatronics education, there is no clear and consistent understanding of what mechatronics is, nor how, and at what level, it should be taught. The key challenge for mechatronics course designers is seen as that of ensuring an appropriate balance between depth and breadth while providing opportunities to enable students to practise integration. The paper discusses this in relation to a number of mechatronic themes. Factors influencing the design, structure and content of a mechatronics programme are discussed and suggestions made as to the possible core content of such a programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]