I-015
Mechatronics II: Advanced Mechatronics for Mechanical Engineering
Students
Authors: John F. Gardner, John S. Lamancusa, H. Joseph Sommer, III
Affiliations: Dept. of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Penn State
Abstract
Increasingly, the field of mechatronics is seen as an essential background of a practicing
mechanical engineer. A course in Advanced Mechatronics is described which is offered
as a joint graduate-undergraduate course and is intended to be a second course in
mechatronics. As opposed to many mechatronics courses, this course focuses more
on intelligent product design than on DSP or controls applications. Another unique
feature of the course is a class-wide project experience in which 10 separate teams
work together on various subsystems of a complex robotic rover vehicle. The class
was offered for the first time in the Spring of 1999 and 20 students, both graduate
and undergraduate participated.
John F. Gardner, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor-in-Charge, M.E. Undergraduate Program
140B Reber Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 865-8281
jfgardner@psu.edu