MAE 505: Mechatronics

Spring 2002

[ University at Buffalo] - [ College of Engineering ] - [ MAE Department ]

 

 


 

QUICK LINKS: [Media Coverage][Lab Assignments][Lab Reports]

 

 

 

Media Coverage

Channel 4 (5:30 pm News Segment)

Channel 4 (6:00 pm News Segment)

Channel 4 (Teaser Segment)

Channel 2 (Teaser Segment)

Project Movies

§        Team A

§        Team B

 

QUICK LINKS: [Media Coverage][Lab Assignments][Lab Reports]

Lab Assignments

Lab 1 –Building a Digital Stopwatch Digital I/O

 

Microcontrollers are elements that fall between electronic hardware and software. They are computers in that they are programmed using algorithmic languages, but they are hardware in that they are installed by being wired into the system with all of the other electronic components. In the first project, we take our first step into the hardware domain by interfacing our first few electronic components, LCDs and keypads, and initiating interaction with our microcontroller.

 

Problem Assignment [HTML][PDF]

Assigned: Feb. 14th 2002, Demo: Feb. 28th 2002

Lab 2 – Basic Stamp II – Building a Digital Multimeter

 

The physical world remains fundamentally analog while the computer is primarily a digital device. Hence, conversion between analog and digital domains, appropriately termed Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC) and Digital to Analog Conversion (DAC), is essential to permit operation by computers on the physical world and this second project focuses primarily on such conversions. For example, sensors typically output an analog signal (voltage or resistance) proportional to the quantity being measured; and actuator outputs are designed to be proportional to analog control signals (voltage/current) which must be provided by the computer. (In subsequent labs we will look at the actual sensors which transduce physical quantities into electrical signals and the actuator technology which transduce the electrical signals to take actions on the physical world). To motivate and understand this process, we will be implementing the following “product”           that will be of use to us in subsequent labs: A Digital Ohmmeter, Digital Voltmeter, an R-2R ladder based Digital-to-Analog Converter, and a Pulse Width Modulation based Digital-to-Analog Converter (PWMDAC).

 

Problem Assignment [HTML][ PDF]

Assigned: Feb. 28th 2002, Demo: Mar. 21st  2002

Lab 3 – Controlling a Wheeled Mobile Robot

with an Infrared Remote

In this lab, we examine the interfacing of a small semi-autonomous wheeled mobile robot to a microprocessor, focusing especially on development alternative user-interfaces and performance calibration. The BOE-Bot kit provides an expedient method for creating simple wheeled mobile robots (which will serve as our experimental testbed). Numerous alternative interfaces can be created by a combination of hardware and software mechatronic elements (such as by decoding the 38Khz modulated IR signal generated a TV remote). Hence one the emphases in this lab is to explore and gain experience with implementing alternative and unconventional user-interfaces. ­­

 

Problem Assignment [HTML][PDF]

Assigned: Mar. 27th 2002, Demo: Apr. 11th 2002

Final Project –Distributed Sensing and Control Framework for Mobile Robots

 

In this final project, we wish to examine the development and implementation of a distributed sensing and control framework for a system comprised of: the mobile robot (with its onboard processor), the base station, which are coupled together by wired and wireless communication channels. Such a distribution of sensing and control offers many benefits including reducing the computation loads on individual processors and extending the capabilities of sensors/actuators but comes at the price of need for communication protocols, increased overhead of coordination and ultimately increased complexity. Thus, in this final project we wish to examine some of these issues using the relatively simple example of remote-control/operation of the mobile robot by a base station.

In keeping with the procedure discussed in class, this final project will be less structured than the previous labs. In particular, students will have enormous freedom in selection of phenomena to study, implementation mechanisms as long as they stay within the broad guidelines noted below. Groups with questions are encouraged to discuss their potential projects with Prof. Krovi at the earliest to avoid many of the pitfalls.

 

Project Assigned

[HTML][PDF]

Demonstration: May 2nd 2002, Report Due: May 14th 2002

 

 

 

QUICK LINKS: [Media Coverage][Lab Assignments][Lab Reports]

Submitted Lab Reports

Team

Member #1
(Name, e-mail)

PDF FORMAT

PDF FORMAT

PDF FORMAT

PDF FORMAT

 

A

 

Seung Kook Jun
seungjun(at)acsu.buffalo.edu
Kok-Lam Lai
klai2(at)eng.buffalo.edu
Bun Tong
NYcMMpUnit(at)aol.com

LAB1

LAB2

LAB3

PROJECT

[PRESENTATION (PPT)]
[REPORT (PDF)]
[
TEAM A: MOVIES]

 

B

 

Chris Nowak
cnowak(at)buffalo.veridian.com
Rajaey Kased
kased(at)acsu.buffalo.edu
Chin-pei Tang
chintang(at)eng.buffalo.edu

LAB1

LAB2

LAB3

PROJECT

[PRESENTATION (PPT)]
[REPORT (PDF)]
[
TEAM B: MOVIES]

 

C

 

Prasanna Parthasarathy
prasanna7_2000(at)rediffmail.com
Robert Stoll
mitcho_chano(at)yahoo.com
Dan Gott
gott(at)eng.buffalo.edu

LAB1

LAB2

LAB3

PROJECT

[PRESENTATION (PPT)]
[REPORT (PDF)]

 

D

 

Pravin Nair
pknair(at)eng.buffalo.edu
Harmanjeet Shihn
hshihn(at)buffalo.edu
Richard Porcari
rporcari(at)acsu.buffalo.edu

LAB1

LAB2

LAB3

PROJECT

[PRESENTATION (PPT)]
[REPORT (PDF)]

 

E

 

Leng Feng Lee
llee3(at)eng.buffalo.edu
Krishnakumar Ramamoorthy
kr27(at)acsu.buffalo.edu
Rajankumar Bhatt
rmbhatt(at)eng.buffalo.edu

LAB1

LAB2

LAB3

PROJECT

[PRESENTATION (PPT)]
[REPORT (PDF)]


QUICK LINKS: [Media Coverage][Lab Assignments][Lab Reports]