ME350 Design and Manufacturing II

This junior-level class covers the design, analysis, and selection of mechanical and electromechanical components in the context of system-level machine design. Specific topics include mechanisms, bearings, transmissions, joining methods, structures, springs, sensors, actuators, and manufacturing, and are taught via lectures, recitations, and hands-on labs. These topics are further reinforced via a class project in which student teams design, build, and test a golf-club swinging machine. The student teams participate in a design competition at the local driving range, where the machine that consistently hits golf balls the farthest wins (see video below). A second project covers the design, assembly, and testing of an inverted pendulum system, and emphasizes the principles of mechatronic design and system integration.

Class Video (W08)

ME450 Design and Manufacturing III

This senior-level class provides students a complete capstone design and manufacturing experience via an open-ended real world engineering project. Projects are solicited from the industry as well as research labs, and involve the design, fabrication, and testing of a new device, machine, or system. Student teams carry out a systematic design process, all the way from identifying customer needs to delivering a working prototype. Particular emphasis is placed on model-based design, project planning and management, and professional engineering practices.

ME552 Mechatronic System Design

This graduate level class covers the synergistic integration of mechanical disciplines, controls, electronics and computers in the design of high-performance systems. Case studies, hands-on lab exercises, and design projects provide a practical exposure to machine design, multi-domain dynamic systems modeling, controls theory, sensors and actuators, electrical drives and circuits, simulation tools, DAQ hardware/software, and real-time controls implementation using microprocessors. The class project involves the design, fabrication, and demonstration of full-size, fully functional, two-wheeled electric transporters (like the Segway) from scratch in less than a semester (see video below).
 

Class Video (F07)

Professional Tutorials

• Constraint-based Design of Flexure Mechanisms, ASME IDETC
• Building-block based Design of Compliant Mechanisms, ASME IDETC
• Precision Flexure Mechanisms, ASPE Annual Meeting

If you attended one of the above professional tutorials and would like an electronic copy of the tutorial slides/notes, please send Prof. Awtar an email.