scholarly journals A Hands-On Laboratory for Intelligent Control Courses

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 9070
Author(s):  
Hugo Torres-Salinas ◽  
Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz ◽  
Adyr A. Estévez-Bén ◽  
M. A. Cruz Pérez ◽  
P. Y. Sevilla-Camacho ◽  
...  

This research focused on developing a methodology that facilitates the learning of control engineering students, specifically developing skills to design a complete control loop using fuzzy logic. The plant for this control loop is a direct current motor, one of the most common actuators used by educational and professional engineers. The research was carried out on a platform developed by a group of students. Although the learning techniques for the design and implementation of controllers are extensive, there has been a delay in teaching techniques that are relatively new compared to conventional control techniques. Then, the hands-on laboratory offers a tool for students to acquire the necessary skills in driver tuning. In addition to the study of complete systems, the ability to work in a team is developed, a fundamental skill in the professional industrial area. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of student learning was carried out, integrating a multidisciplinary project based on modern tools.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adhiti Raman

In recent years, an aggressive expansion of research as well as commercialization efforts in autonomous vehicles can be witnessed. At the same time, many existing companies have expanded their portfolio to autonomous technologies as well (e.g. NVIDIA). This has created an already large need for autonomous-vehicle engineers who are not only proficient in single traditional engineering fields (e.g. mechanical) and old-school automotive studies, but who also have acquired the significantly different, interdisciplinary skillset for mobile robotics. Unlike students of computer science, mechanical engineering graduate students are hardly exposed to coding and robotic system integration in current traditional curricula. The new demands of the automotive industry require an automotive engineer who understands the science of autonomy as well as its impact on the design and implementation of autonomous vehicles, and is equipped with hands-on experience with the latest technology in the field.We describe a unique education program that draws content from traditional courses on mobile-robotics as well as incorporates experiential learning by hands-on training in software, specifically addressing the skill gap in traditional automotive engineering education. Geared towards engineering students with no previous training in robotic system integration, and with only basic undergraduate understanding of programming languages, the teaching experiment employed an active learning approach to introduce numerous concepts as a host of hands-on exercises on multiple robotic platforms. Beginning with simple tutorials on networked communication to demonstrate the power of ROS, the course built up to complete control system design on a student-built RC car that can avoid obstacles and navigate a racecourse by performing SLAM.A brief evaluation of the course exhibited good student performance in general with unique and creative approaches to the programming tasks in particular. Although employing different approaches, each student team was able to demonstrate comparable, efficient performance.


Author(s):  
A Gonzalez-Buelga ◽  
I Renaud-Assemat ◽  
B Selwyn ◽  
J Ross ◽  
I Lazar

This paper focuses on the development, delivery and preliminary impact analysis of an engineering Work Experience Week (WEW) programme for KS4 students in the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Bristol, UK. Key stage 4, is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs in England, age 15–16. The programme aims to promote the engineering profession among secondary school pupils. During the WEW, participants worked as engineering researchers: working in teams, they had to tackle a challenging engineering design problem. The experience included hands-on activities and the use of state-of-the-art rapid prototyping and advanced testing equipment. The students were supervised by a group of team leaders, a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, technical staff, and academics at the School of CAME. The vision of the WEW programme is to transmit the message that everybody can be an engineer, that there are plenty of different routes into engineering that can be taken depending on pupils’ strengths and interests and that there are a vast amount of different engineering careers and challenges to be tackled by the engineers of the future. Feedback from the participants in the scheme has been overwhelmingly positive.


Author(s):  
O.V. Nepomnyashchiy ◽  
A.V. Tarasov ◽  
Yu.V. Krasnobaev ◽  
V.N. Khaidukova ◽  
D.O. Nepomnyashchiy

The problem of increasing the efficiency of power units of autonomous electric transport vehicles is considered. The task of creating a promising power system control device has been singled out. It is determined that in creating such devices, significant results can be obtained by using an intelligent module in the control loop of the electric drive. Goal. It is necessary to develop a power plant model with intelligent control, allowing to obtain data sets about currents, voltages and engine speeds in different modes of operation. The architecture of an intelligent control device, a PID controller based on a neural network, has been proposed; it has been proposed to exclude rotor angular velocity sensors from the classical feedback loop. The type and architecture of the neural network is defined. In the software environment MatLab the model of neuroemulator of the engine for formation of a training sample of a neural network by a method of Levenberg – Marquardt is developed. The trained neural network is implemented in the developed model of the electric motor control loop. The results of simulation of the intelligent control device showed a good convergence of the output influences generated by the neuroemulator with the actual parameters of the electric motor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Ruth Wiederkehr ◽  
Marie-Thérèse Rudolf von Rohr

This article focuses on how formative feedback can be used to help engineering students write precise and coherent management summaries that appeal to a mixed audience. Management summaries are especially challenging to master as students must strive for a balance between adhering to scientific standards and being intelligible for a wider non-expert readership. Students of Energy and Environmental Technology at the school of engineering (FHNW) in Switzerland write a total of six technical reports about their project work (mostly in German). By analysing two management summaries, the focus is laid on the lecturers’ approach of relying on formative feedback which supports and accompanies the students’ iterative writing processes. It is shown how in early semesters lecturers provide hands-on guidance, such as suggesting discourse markers or pinpointing vague references to sharpen students’ awareness of the need to write as concisely as possible for mixed audiences.


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