Abstract

In the new millennium the disciplinary boundaries within engineering education will be diffused as engineering education responds to growing number of innovations and product development at the interfaces of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Industrial robots provide an excellent teaching tool for introducing students to the burgeoning field of "Mechatronics" which integrates mechanism design and analysis, soft computing, sensing and electronics from a holistic perspective.

A team based student project in a senior level interdisciplinary "Robotics" course is discussed in this paper. The project is designed to demonstrate flexible and agile manufacturing concepts to students by integrating imaging and motion using an industrial SCARA (Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm) robot. It involves students through all four phases of 'Experiential Learning' cycle including 'Concrete Experience', 'Reflective Observations', 'Abstract Conceptualization' and 'Active Experimentation'. The project provides a holistic learning experience that integrates concepts from many different fields thereby avoiding compartmentalization of knowledge by rigid disciplinary boundaries. Moreover, the integration of the project provides a clear set of outcomes for the course which is consistent with the "outcome" based approach to engineering education that is being advocated by Criteria 2000(EC 2000) of Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET)