HAVING FUN WITH MUSCLE WIRES

摘要

This paper describes an introductory mechatronicsrncourse geared towards students in their third or fourthrnundergraduate year. The students will have hadrnminimal exposure to many of the topics in thernmechatronics core areas. Hence, the course addressesrnthe need to provide a survey of relevant materialsrnwhile stressing integration. The curriculum isrnheavily weighted towards intensive laboratoryrnactivities in order to encourage greater intellectualrnand emotional involvement, and promote interactionrnamong students. Due to the loose structure of therncourse and the wide range of student backgrounds,rngrading is based upon a criterion-reference ratherrnthan upon a norm-reference. These criteria assignsrnrankings to the students' performance dependingrnupon whether the work (1) fell below expectation, (2)rnmet expectation or (3) exceeded expectations.