An interdisciplinary control engineering laboratory course

摘要

In this work, we describe our experiences with a laboratory-based course which was added to the engineering curriculum as a new elective for civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering. Our objectives for the laboratory course include the following: (1) Provide students with a realistic introduction to the practice of control engineering in applications from a variety of disciplines, using computer control system identical to those encountered in industrial applications. (2) Integrate fundamental skills and principles from throughout the curriculum to solve practical engineering problems in dynamics and control, emphasizing the design of control systems to add a solid interdisciplinary design component to the engineering curriculum. (3) Encourage the development of group interaction skills vital to the success of practicing engineers and provide a forum for the enrichment of communications skills through both oral and written reporting. (4) Encourage problem-based learning and innovative student approaches via open-ended control problems.