Mechatronics on Campus

In this blog you\'ll find posts about mechatronics, engineering, and engineering education. Stefan Wolpert will discuss various aspects of mechatronics, some of which include computers, control, electronics, mechanics and design. Also, Stefan will explore his engineering education and its integration of mechatronics.

Mediocrity in the Design Process: Marinara sauce gone wrong.

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on November 27, 2008

An end user should not be using a mediocre product, and let me explain how marinara sauce relates. Before super-mega-markets, I would imagine markets had fewer varieties of many products. Those products were likely produced to try to please as many customers’ taste buds as possible. Let me presume that customers only had different preferences between texture and spice of sauces. The two a ...... Read More

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Systems Engineering is not Mechatronics

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on October 1, 2008

What is the role of a systems engineer? A systems engineer ensures a company’s product is going to function within cost, specification, while satisfying the user, making the trade off decisions between features, solving problems without an obvious source, and of course much more. An exemplary systems engineer has significant education and experience, leadership, good communication skills a ...... Read More

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Mechatronics Improves and Speeds Up fMRI Scans

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on September 2, 2008

The inside of an MRI cavity is precisious real estate, why would you want to share this potentially closterphobic space with a robot? In a recent release of the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, one article particularly caught my attention. Functional MRI scans (fMRI) are a type of brain activity scan where an image of brain activity, based on blood flow, is captured every couple seconds. ...... Read More

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A Mechatronic and Medical Marvel: Heavy Ions Curing Cancer at GSI

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on August 19, 2008

The Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI), or Association for Heavy Ion Research, is a research facility where scientific researchers work with heavy ions for a wide range of experiments to explore the structure of matter. GSI is a particle accelerator facility where ions are accelerated up to 90% the speed of light. Of the accomplishments at GSI, atoms of atomic number 107 through ...... Read More

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Error? Fixing Code and Embedded Hardware the Easy Way

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on July 14, 2008

You’ve worked all day on implementing a complicated function and it’s time to see whether it works. You compile the C++ code and program the memory on the microcontroller. Dead. Nothing happens. What to do? First, obviously look for any compiler warnings, such as infinite loops, etc., but if everything looks good, where do you turn to? In mechatronics there are often many differen ...... Read More

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Mechatronics in Germany: Neuronics AG Kantana Robotic Arm

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on June 18, 2008

1 robotic arm + 5 DSP boards + 1 ARM-based microcontroller = a robust research platform I am currently working as an intern in Germany at Kaiserslautern Technical University (Technische Universität Kaiserslautern). I’m helping to develop control algorithms for a robotic arm in the Institute of Control Systems (Lehrstuhl für Regelungssysteme). The robotic arm I’m working wi ...... Read More

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The USA at War = Military Robotic Innovation

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on April 17, 2008

There is no doubt about it: Robots are destined for use on the battlefield. Researchers are trying to find the best mechatronic device to fight, investigate, cover rough terrain, survive explosions, and a myriad of other possibilities. Who is to stimulate this research? For the development of military robots and drones, the government funds many public and private companies. O ...... Read More

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Engineering education needs a better image

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on March 5, 2008

Ask 100 people, “What do engineers do?” Many people may say building bridges, designing roads, etc. and continue to describe a civil engineer. Obviously this is a misnomer, but where does this come from? A national poll done by Harris Interactive ranked the prestige of various careers most recently last August 2007. Firefighters and scientists took the top two spots and engineers r ...... Read More

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Google Lunar X PRIZE draws in higher education

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on March 4, 2008

Will universities become the platform for space research and exploration? Private companies? Or will NASA remain top dog? Will the Google Lunar X PRIZE change space exploration? A robot is the iconic mechatronic system, and in my mind, a rocket, lander and rover destined for the moon are the ultimate mechatronic system. The craft would involve every facet of engineering, including particula ...... Read More

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Mechatronic Product Development: Difficulty finding and hiring system engineers

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on February 20, 2008

The Aberdeen Group’s January 2008 benchmark report titled “System Design: New Product Development for Mechatronics” cites that the top challenge for companies’ mechatronic product development is the “difficulty finding and hiring experience system engineers / lack of cross-functional knowledge.” Do we need more systems engineers? Do more engin ...... Read More

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da Vinci Surgical System from Intuitive Surgical

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on February 9, 2008

Ever been operated on by a robot? Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci surgical system isn’t autonomous by any means, but the surgeon certainly isn’t holding the scalpel in his or her hand. This coming Tuesday (February 12) at 6:00PM EST on www.OR-Live.com Christine McCarty, MD, chair of cardiac surgery at PinnacleHealth, will perform minimally invasive double vessel bypass surgery ...... Read More

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Mechatronics education expanding?

Posted by Stefan Wolpert on February 3, 2008

The past week I’ve been keeping tabs on mechatronics articles across the Internet and I’ve found a large number of articles about incorporating robotics and mechatronics into higher education and elsewhere. Georgia Tech recently announced their finalized plans to offer a Robotics Ph.D. program. A January 30th Georgia Tech (GT) press release stated, “The College of Compu ...... Read More

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