Developing the Creativity and Design Skills of Mechatronic Engineering Students with Labs and Robot Competitions

Abstract

This paper discusses the benefits of using competitions in the teaching activities for a 1^st or 2^nd year mechatronic engineering subject that teaches microcontrollers and/or mobile robotics using a ‘hands on’ PBL (Problem Based Learning) approach to learning and assessment. It describes, in detail, effective competition design philosophies and guidelines for creating different types of robotics competitions (and their rules) which help to keep students highly motivated and engaged in their learning and self-education. A ‘hands on’ one-semester microcontroller programming subject is used to illustrate three different case studies (competitions) that were implemented. This particular subject achieved very high satisfaction marks in student surveys and attracted a great deal of praise from students. The same teaching principles and similar kinds of technical competitions can also be used to achieve successful learning outcomes in other kinds of technical or engineering related subjects. This paper also describes general principles for designing an effective lab based course structure and how technical concepts and materials can be presented, learned quickly, and assessed in order to produce very interested and highly motivated students who are keen to teach themselves practical real world skills with minimum stress and maximum enjoyment. The case studies include a robotic racing car competition, a multi-player box grabbing contest over a rocky obstacle course and a ‘robot wars / robot sumo’ style competition that was televised nationwide in Australia.